It's For You
by CharlotteBlackwood
Summary: The full story of Olivia Cromwell  no novel-chunks, the whole thing, in the style of emberlivi's Ebb and Flow . Comes after Some Other Beginning's End, but can be read out of the series.
1. Chapter 1

**August, 1971**

In a village in England that the world had long since happily forgot lived one of the most important men in all of Britain, who few under the crown could name. Peter Cromwell, primary advisor to the Minister of Magic, had moved his daughters to his quiet village and out of London as soon as his wife died under suspicious circumstances. To protect his daughters, Peter Cromwell sought out the most secluded village he could find in which to raise them.

Olivia and Anne-Claire never really knew London as home, so there was not much to miss. As far as they knew, the Muggle world did not exist. When Olivia was eleven and Anne-Claire was nine, Peter took the girls to work with him one day, with safety assured by the Ministry of Magic, so that they might see the world they must one day enter.

Anne-Claire grasped her father's pant leg with wide, wonder-filled eyes. Olivia fidgeted slightly with her freshly-pressed dress, but otherwise seemed calm. Her green eyes scanned the lobby of the Ministry, paying less attention to the impressive statues her sister ogled at and more to the people passing all around. Her favorite people to watch were the rougher, more colorful people who greeted her father by last name.

One particularly rough looking man who appeared to have been half-eaten by something nodded to Mr. Crowell and then almost smiled as he glanced at Olivia. She stared unblinkingly back until he patted her on the head with surprising tenderness and left them with another nod at Mr. Cromwell.

The day was long and by the end, Anne-Claire was practically already asleep. Olivia was being doted on by the Minister's secretary, and wishing she could go home. About the time when Peter Cromwell would have normally left, the rough-looking man returned and Peter Cromwell hurried him into his office. They warded the space to be sure the girls would not overhear.

"Well?" Peter drummed his fingers impatiently. "Did you check?"

"Aye, Peter, I did. I had to sign my life away to John, like we expected, but I got to hear the prophecy."

Peter closed his eyes solemnly.

"And?"

"It's not either of those girls, Peter, but watch over Olivia."

Eyes flying open, Peter gripped the desk. "If it's not her…"

"She'll have a daughter, I expect. The little one wouldn't be a reasonable match."

"So they'll be trying to kill Olivia anyway?"

The rough-looking man nodded. "Aye, but when and how, I cannot say. The prophecy's not about her, after all."

Peter began to pace furiously about his office. "Should I educate her myself?"

"Oh, no, I don't think that will be necessary, Peter. There's not a place in the world safer than Hogwarts, as long as Albus Dumbledore's around. You needn't worry about her schooling."

They nodded solemnly at each other for a moment and then Peter clasped the man's shoulder.

"I want to thank you, Grizzly. You've been a good friend so long, through everything. If there's ever anything I can do for you, for Eva, just say the word."

"Aye, I'm sure I will, should that day ever come."

/-/

Later that night, Grizzly Morecomb and his daughter Eva, about eleven years old, sat at a dingy table in a dank kitchen, finishing their dinner in silence. The girl was almost as pretty as Olivia, but with deep blue eyes instead of green. Grizzly blew out the candle hovering over the table and ushered Eva to bed. Once she was sufficiently tucked in, Grizzly returned to the kitchen and gazed out the window at the rainy alleyway.

"Oh, Eva, would that it were you. What an honor, to be remembered forever in history, no matter what end be met."

After watching the stars for a few moments, he turned to a cupboard that seemed nearly empty, except for a small box. Taking this box, Grizzly sat down at the table again, pulling out picture after damaged picture. In each one, Peter Cromwell, Grizzly, and two smiling women waved up at him. Some of them even included two very young girls, and two at the bottom had the six of them in a park in London, plus a small baby girl in the arms of Peter Cromwell.

The rough-looking man brushed tears from his eyes and placed the pictures carefully back in the box, and the box tenderly back in the cupboard. With a quick glance at Eva's room, Grizzly sighed and climbed the stairs to bed, with visions of the smiling, waving faces in his mind as he dreamt.

/-/

Peter Cromwell watched the fire die down in the parlor of his manor as the house elf, Drizza, folded the sheets she had washed while the family was having dinner. Above the mantle of the fireplace was a picture of the Cromwell family, nearly seven years ago. Aindora Cromwell smiled down at him, sadly, as she always did, and a much younger Olivia fiddled with her mother's hand. Peter in the picture, was holding a small, sleeping baby, which was the practically new-born Anne-Claire.

He stood and picked up his glass, stepping closer to the picture for a better look. There was a rustling sound behind him and he turned to find Olivia sitting down on the couch where he just was. He smiled sadly.

"Livia, it's past time for sleeping."

She nodded solemnly. "Yes, father. I know. I couldn't sleep."

He sat down next to her and massaged her cheek gently with his thumb.

"What's the matter, Livia?"

Shaking him off, she looked up at the picture. "I've seen him before, haven't I?"

Peter frowned.

"Who?"

"The rough-looking man we saw today at your office. I don't know why, but I'm sure I've seen him before somewhere. Do we know him?"

With a sigh, Peter looked up at the picture again. "We used to, dear. But that was a long time ago, and things have changed. People change. I'm not sure if he would recognize himself if the man I once knew could see what he has become."

The girl stared down at her shoes, wondering what that meant, if this rough-looking man had become a bad man, and if so, why her father would be talking to him, but her heart would not let her ask.

"Well, Livia, I think you'd best be getting back to bed. Rush off, now."

She complied, scurrying down the hall to her room. Peter took another drink and stared at the picture, as if in a trance.

"Master, if I may?"

The small voice broke him out of his reverie, and Peter looked down to find the sweet face of Drizza at his elbow.

"Yes, Drizza?"

"Well, Master, at some point, the past needs to be let go. If you're still seeing Master Morecomb after all that happened and all that will happen…"

His face grew dark. "Drizza, my dear, you are an honored member of this family, and I value you _as_ a part of this family, but there are some lines that should not be crossed. Mr. Morecomb has been a good friend to us for many years, and we should not be the ones to judge and condemn him in these hard times."

Drizza nodded and went back to folding her sheets, though cautiously watching Peter as he trudged up the stairs to his room.

Peter lit up the pipe his wife had always hated and changed into his pajamas. Sitting on the end of the bed, he looked out of his window over the village, puffing smoke into the room. A portrait of his father and mother hung on the wall next to the window, and his mother began to cough and sputter as the smoke reached her.

Mr. Cromwell glowered down at his son. "Put that infernal thing away, boy. You know perfectly well your mother can't stand it." Peter smiled and put out the pipe. "That's a good boy."

Mrs. Cromwell wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. "Well, darling, what's wrong? I know you only smoke when you're upset."

Peter shook his head. "You know what's wrong."

Mrs. Cromwell gasped. "It's one of them?"

"No, no, but they'll be trying to kill Olivia. It's going to be a child of hers. At least, that's what Grizzly has figured out."

"Oh, darling, that's awful. But she's just a child! Who would hurt a child?"

He slammed his fist against the wall. "The people who want to stop the prophecy before it has a chance to start." He glanced up at his mother. "The same people who killed Aindora and Eoladra."

Mr. Cromwell cleared his throat loudly. "Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. If they kill her, there's nothing you could have done, and if they don't, well, then you've done a good enough job. But I doubt they'll kill her. I'm a firm believer in the power of these prophecies. She'll be going to school soon?"

Peter nodded. "The letter should be here any day now. She'll be leaving in September."

"Then let her go, boy. She's growing up faster than you can get a grip on, I know, and she looks just like her mother, but she's not going to be three years old for the rest of her life. Let her learn how to fight back when they come for her."

"Oh, darling, how can you talk like that?" The horrified look on Mrs. Cromwell's face instantly softened when she turned back to her son. "Don't worry, dear, Olivia's going to be just fine! Oh, do write to us when she gets the letter! We'd love to come and visit our granddaughter before she goes out into the world!"

Sleepily, Peter nodded and crawled into his bed. "You'll be the first to know, Mother. Good night."

With that, his parents sat down in their portrait at a little tea table and the room was quiet with sleep until morning.

/-/

The next day, at breakfast, Olivia was poking her porridge and Anne-Claire was practically asleep in her seat, resting her head on her wrist. Just as soon as Drizza set the sausages on the table, a large tawny owl swooped in and dropped a thick and heavy envelope right in front of Olivia's porridge.

The envelope was yellowed with age and the emerald green ink almost exactly matched the shade of Olivia's eyes. When she saw it was addressed to her, she looked up to her father, who nodded encouragingly. The seal was purple wax, with a badger, raven, lion, and snake surrounding a large 'H'. She carefully opened to find three sheets of parchment:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Cromwell,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.

Yours Sincerely,

Horace Slughorn

Horace Slughorn,

Deputy Headmaster

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_**The Practice of Magic (Grade 1)**_ by Margaret Trimble

_**A History of Magic**_ by Bathilda Bagshot

_**A Guide to Essential Wizardry**_ by Stergis Renshaw

_**A Catalogue of Basic Transfiguration**_ by Quentin Aldermaston

_**The Everyday Application of Herbology**_ by Silva Ridgebit

_**A synopsis of Basic Potions**_ by Humphrey Rickett

_**The Codex of Magical Wildlife**_ by Olaf Peltier

_**Defending Against the Dark Arts**_ by Merton Warburton

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set of glass crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set of brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.

Olivia nodded up to her father. "So when do we take care of this?"

Peter smiled and nodded. "I'll send off the owl today. We'll shop for your things in a few days, when I have a day off work. I suppose you ought to write a letter to your grandparents letting them know your letter got here. They'll want to congratulate you."

Anne-Claire and Olivia excused themselves from breakfast to write a letter to their grandparents together. Peter sat down at the table and drafted a professional and succinct reply to Hogwarts in Olivia's name accepting her place in the school.

The daily routine went on as normal, until the late afternoon, when Mr. and Mrs. Cromwell arrived to dote on their grandchildren. They brought sweets and new clothes, and they brought Peter the latest social news from London. After they had exhausted all their giving potential, the girls settled everyone around the fire and Drizza brought butterbeer for the family.

"So, dear, when are you taking them into London?" Mrs. Cromwell eyed her son.

Peter smiled, knowing his mother's tricks. "Mother, you know I'd never tell you. You're not coming along. This is a chance for me to spend time with the girls before Olivia leaves. You may come over and visit again if you'd like, but you're not coming shopping with us. There's only so much she can take with her to school, at any rate."

The two Messer's Cromwell laughed heartily, while Mrs. Cromwell frowned at them. "I'll have you know I was only thinking we might take care of Anne-Claire so that you and Olivia could have some time alone."

He sighed and waved his hand at her. "Mother, I'll be taking her along. If she decides she doesn't want to go, Drizza will look after her. There's no need to be leaving her in London without Ministry…"

His voice trailed off and he looked at the girls. They stared back at him questioningly.

Mrs. Cromwell nodded sharply. "Yes, I see what you mean. Well, I suppose we'll just have to come and visit before she goes, then. I believe we can manage that!"

Peter nodded slowly, grateful that his mother changed the topic, in a manner of speaking, so quickly. The girls did not know about the Ministry protection. He did not know how to tell his children that someone was trying to kill them, or even more, why.

After a few hours of chatter, they said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Cromwell. Not long after they departed, Peter put the girls to bed, and sat by the fireplace, staring at the picture until he fell asleep on the sofa. Drizza kindly draped a blanket over him and watched him sleep for a moment.

"Oh, Master. This is going to be hard. You've never been one to let go." She turned to gaze up at the smiling and waving picture. "Mistress, I know you would have loved to be here for this. This world isn't very fair." Peter stirred slightly, but did not wake. "She looks just like you, dear, just like you did when you were a child."

With that, Drizza put out the fireplace and headed off to her quarters for rest. Tomorrow Peter was taking Olivia to London, and she would have a lot of work to do, preparing them for their journey.

/-/

The next morning, Drizza rushed around in true professional manner, preparing everything for the journey. The most difficult part was keeping Anne-Claire out of the way. The little girl kept running around in everyone's way, a little confused, thinking that Olivia was leaving for ever, and not just for the day.

After Anne-Claire understood that she would be seeing her sister again, Olivia and her father said their goodbyes and took the Floo Network to Diagon Alley. Olivia brushed herself off and took her father's hand. They strolled around the shops, gathering the items on her list. The street was bustling with other students gathering their supplies, as well as a variety of interesting people simply taking care of their shopping lists.

Olivia caught a glimpse of the rough-looking man as her father was talking with a warlock about her scales. She watched him, and the girl who was with him, gripping tightly to his hand, just as Olivia had been doing to her father's hand earlier. This must be his daughter.

She was about to move closer to get a better look when Peter turned and saw them, taking Olivia's hand and strolling in their direction. The rough-looking man looked up as they approached, and his daughter eyed them suspiciously.

"Mr. Cromwell. Ah, and little Olivia. It's very good to see you both." He almost genuinely smiled.

Peter Cromwell nodded. "Mr. Morecomb. This must be your Eva." The rough-looking man nodded. Eva hid shyly behind her father's arm.

Olivia studied the girl named Eva. They were about the same age. Eva had long, luxurious black hair, very similar to Olivia's. Eva's eyes were a deep blue, like the sea. She had bold features, also like Olivia. Eva looked more like she could be Olivia's sister than Anne-Claire did. Peter noticed the wonderment in Olivia's eyes and he politely parted with the Morecombs.

"Father?" Olivia kept her eyes strictly ahead, wondering what had just happened.

"Yes, dear."

"Why did she look so much like me?"

"Who, dear?"

"Eva Morecomb. She looked like she might have been my sister."

Peter shook his head uneasily. "Don't be silly, darling. She looked nothing like you."

Eva Morecomb was not spoken of for the rest of the day, but Olivia could not help but wonder why her father had lied to her. He must have seen the obvious resemblance.

As the day grew older and the Cromwells ducked into a bookshop to pick up the last of Olivia's list, a friendly, older couple with a boy about Olivia's age waved to Peter, ushering him over.

"Peter! Peter Cromwell! Come here, you rascal, how've you been?"

Peter walked Olivia over. "Olivia, this is Mr. and Mrs. Potter. And this is their son, James. He'll be starting school with you this year." He looked up to Mr. Potter. "And this is my oldest, Olivia."

Mrs. Potter smiled warmly. "Of course, she looks just like her mother!"

Mr. Potter nodded in approval, and then the adults moved away to discuss whatever it is adults discuss when their children are not present. James and Olivia looked each other up and down, and then shook hands to signify their approval of each other.

"So your father is the famous Peter Cromwell." James looked impressed, and by the awkwardness of the expression, Olivia decided he must not be easily impressed.

She nodded. "Yes, he is. Is he really that famous?"

James laughed. "Well, of course! He's almost as well known as the Minister himself!"

"I see."

"So you'll be going to Hogwarts. Do you know what house you'll want?"

Olivia shrugged. "My mother was in Ravenclaw and my father was in Gryffindor. I don't really know."

James smiled, which always made him look like he was up to something, since he usually was. "My parents were in Gryffindor. That's where I'll be, I guarantee it."

After a brief explanation from James about the inner workings of Hogwarts, which he seemed to know everything about, despite the fact that he was an only child, Olivia and James wandered through the shop gathering all the books on the list. They rejoined their parents and paid for their new manuals of learning, and the two families parted ways with the typical pleasantries. James gave Olivia a friendly wink and she returned it with a friendly smile.

Peter and Olivia Cromwell gathered all their purchases, most of which were Olivia's school things, but a few were things for her father. They travelled back to their manor, far from London, once again by Floo Powder, to find Drizza cleaning the parlor and the silence as proof that Anne-Claire had gone to bed.

Drizza poured them some sort of juice and they settled down by the fireplace to relax and unwind before Olivia would go to bed. Peter was his usual silent self, and Olivia simply stared at the portrait over the fireplace for what seemed like hours. Out of nowhere, she decided to break the silence.

"Father? How do you know the Potters?"

Mr. Cromwell set down his empty glass and smiled. "You know, dear, I don't really remember where I first met them. I've known them nearly my whole life. They're good people, and they are friendly with many of my coworkers as well. I suppose we just know all of the same people."

"Are you really famous?"

He pondered the question, searching her face for the intent, and then realizing how foolish it was to suspect some sort of intent from his 10-year-old child. "I suppose I am, in a way. Many people know my name, and my job is very important."

"Are the Potters famous too?"

He laughed softly. "Not exactly. Many people know them, but they really don't do anything which puts them in that sort of spotlight, and I think they like it that way."

"Oh."

Olivia promptly returned to staring at the portrait.

"Are you ready for bed yet, dear?"

She shook her head, but he rose anyway and kissed her on the forehead.

"Well, I'm turning in, so this is goodnight. Drizza, please put her to bed soon. These next few days will be stressful and I want her to be sharp and ready when she starts school."

Drizza nodded and Mr. Cromwell lumbered off to his bedroom.

For what seemed like forever, but was really more on the lines of twenty minutes, Olivia pondered the day's events. Her father had lied to her, she had met a girl who could practically be her twin, and she found out that her father was famous. The world she knew had disappeared and she wondered if Hogwarts would be a strange place, or something familiar. Drizza took away the glasses and began to dust around the fireplace.

"Drizza?"

The sweet house-elf turned. "Yes, dear?"

"Father lied to me today."

Drizza's brow furrowed and she paused. "What do you mean?"

"We came across a girl, the daughter of the rough-looking man, and she looked just like me, but when I asked him why he said she looked nothing like me. It was a lie. He must have known. Why did he lie?"

Drizza continued the dusting carefully calculating her answer, and glancing almost subconsciously at the portrait above the fireplace. A few moments later, she finished the dusting and turned back to Olivia. "I'm sure he had his reasons, dear, but now it's time for you to sleep."

Reluctantly, Drizza walked Olivia to her room and said goodnight, pondering the girl's words, knowing exactly what they meant, and dreading the fallout of her master's snap decision.

**A/N: For those of you who've read The Marauder's Beginnings, this should look very familiar. That's because it's ESSENTIALLY the same chapter. The first three chapters will be from The Marauder's Beginnings, but chapter four will be NEW MATERIAL, so don't give up. This is a new configuration of Olivia's story, going beyond where I left on in The Marauders Get Close, going up until Sirius's Azkaban imprisonment. Strap in, enjoy, and review! :D**


	2. Somebody Else

**September, 1971**

Several days later, the Cromwell family found themselves at King's Cross Station – a train station for Muggles. This trip required explaining to the girls what the Muggle world was, and leaving Drizza at home. It required dressing like Muggles to fit in, which made Olivia rather uncomfortable. It also required an emotional parting until Christmas, because this trip was just the beginning for Olivia on her trip to Hogwarts.

Mr. Cromwell maneuvered Olivia's cart, and Olivia followed through the masses of people, holding tightly to her sister's hand. Her father stopped at a brick barrier and pointed at it.

"We need to walk through that," he whispered.

She nodded, considering the strangeness of it, but figuring he knew exactly what he meant. So she and her sister walked calmly at the brick wall, followed closely by her father. When they came out on the other side, they were on a platform marked 9¾, with a scarlet steam-engine called the Hogwarts Express. They said their kind parting words, and Anne-Claire nearly had to be pried off her sister, and then Olivia maneuvered her cart toward the steam engine, looking for some sort of kind face.

As she neared the train, she found one. James came up to her and winked, helping her get her things onto the train.

"Good to see you again, Cromwell."

She nodded. "Likewise. Found a compartment?"

He nodded and winked, leading her down the train to a compartment with a bored-looking boy with long hair. "Olivia Cromwell, meet Sirius Black."

The Black boy smiled at her, which made him appear more charming than bored, and they shook hands genially. The two boys immediately took up what seemed to be a previously started conversation on Quidditch and Olivia listened intently. After an argument almost ensued over the validity of the Holyhead Harpies, being an all-women team, as a Quidditch team, Olivia piped up.

"They're valid."

The boys looked at her questioningly.

She blushed. "Well, I don't support them, or anything, but they are quite a good team."

The boys nodded in almost begrudging agreement.

"Who do you support?" Sirius smiled at her, seeming to actually care about her opinion.

"Puddlemere United."

James groaned and Sirius chuckled. James gave her a glare.

"You're just jumping on the bandwagon because they're doing well."

She gave him a frosty look in return. "I'm doing no such thing. I support them because my grandfather used to play for them."

All glares vanished at this and they began to pester her. What position? Did he ever play for a World Cup team? Well, he was a beater, and no, they weren't very good in those days. They welcomed a couple of new boys to the compartment as eleven o'clock neared, one named Remus Lupin who seemed rather ill, and a small, timid boy named Peter Pettigrew. Almost as the train was about to take off, a girl walked in with tears in her eyes. She had red hair, and would have been rather pretty if she was not crying. She did not look at them, and settled in a seat by the window. Nobody acknowledged her, and they continued their Quidditch discussion.

Shortly after the train had entered the countryside, a boy with greasy black hair and a large hooked nose entered their compartment, already in his robes. He sat across from the crying girl at the window and paid no mind to the original occupants of the compartment. They returned the favor. He and the girl carried on their own conversation, separate from the rest of the group.

Several moments later, a sentence the newest boy uttered caught James' ears: "You'd better be in Slytherin."

James' head snapped around. From what he had told Olivia when they were in Diagon Alley, Slytherin was the last place anyone ought to want to be. "Slytherin?" James's attention shift was followed by his companions and everyone was suddenly focused on the strangers by the window. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He was addressing Sirius and Olivia.

Olivia prudently did not respond, but Sirius did not joke along. Instead, his face grew dark. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey, and I though you seemed alright!"

James and Olivia both eyed Sirius with an interest which bordered suspicion.

Sirius grinned. "Maybe I'll break tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

Olivia smiled at James as he lifted an imaginary sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad!"

The boy at the window made a small noise which clearly voiced his disgust.

With another one of her frosty gazes, Olivia turned to the greasy-haired boy and softly said, "Got a problem with that?"

"No," replied the boy, with a sneer. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy –"

Sirius grinned. "Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"

James and Olivia erupted with laughter and the girl by the window glared at the three of them with utter disdain. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo…"

James and Sirius mimicked her, and James attempted to trip Severus the greasy-haired boy as they left.

As the door slammed shut behind them, Olivia called after them, "See ya, Snivellus!"

The compartment erupted with laughter again. When they group had cooled down a bit, James shook his head.

"What a bloke. Slytherin. Who would actually want to be in Slytherin?"

They all shook their heads, silently. Much of the rest of the time was spent trading sweets and swapping jokes. Olivia left briefly to change into her robes. As soon as the train pulled in to Hogsmeade station, they helped each other get their things on to the platform and were ushered away by a very large man. The five of them stuck in as tight of a group as was possible.

The large man led them off to a giant lake where there were many boats awaiting the first year students. He called out to them, "No more 'n four to a boat!"

They shuffled into the boats, James, Sirius, and Olivia in one, and Remus and Peter in one nearby. A girl with long brown hair hopped into the boat with Olivia and the boys. A girl who looked just like her and Eva Morecomb hopped into the boat with their separated companions.

"Hello," cried the cheerful girl in their boat. "My name is Kiki Sitzer, and over in that other boat is my twin sister Jiki."

Introductions were barely made when the boats began to glide of their own accord across the lake. At the other side, the boats docked in the cliffside and the first years' were led through a tunnel that presumably led to the castle. The large man took them up the stone steps of the castle to the front door and knocked sharply on the door, three times.

The door swung open and a man in deep purple robes looked down at the students. "Ah, thank you, Hagrid, I'll take them now."

The man in purple robes led them down the stone entrance hall to a small, empty room.

"Now, you are all about to join your classmates in the Great Hall, but when you do the first order of business is to sort you into your houses. There are four houses here at Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They have all produced their share of remarkable stock and they each have their own traditions and noble histories. Whichever house you are in will be your family during your time here, and you will support and work with each other. It is likely that your life-long friends are among your housemates. You'll be sorted soon, and in front of the older students, so best take this time to smarten up!" He smiled and winked at them, before turning to leave them alone.

There was mild chaos when the man in purple robes left, as the students all turned to each other, trying to straighten robes and flatten hair. As it turned out, no amount of efforts from the other four could flatten the back of James' hair for more than mere moments. Just when they thought they had succeeded, it would spring back up again with demoralizing vigor.

A short time later the door reopened and the man in purple robes reappeared. The chaos stopped as suddenly as it had begun and they all stared expectantly at him.

"Form a line and follow me, then." His voice was cheery, as was his demeanor, as they followed him out of the room and into the Great Hall.

There were four long tables lined with students, which were probably separated by houses, and there was another long table at the head of the room where the professors sat. Some of the students were ogling at the ceiling as they ambled along in their line, which, Olivia noticed when she looked up, had been bewitched to appear like the sky. There were stars twinkling and Sirius was pointing out different constellations to James.

The man in purple robes stopped the line and put a large stool in front of the school. On it he placed a ragged looking hat, which was rather patched and dirty. It was on this hat that all the attention in the room focused.

The hat sang, but Olivia did not listen to the words. She looked at the faces around her, from the kindly faces of the professors to the variety of faces of her fellow students. All seemed quite respectful of the ratty old Sorting Hat.

Suddenly, the man in purple stepped forward once more, with a rather large scroll in hand.

"When I call your name, you will step forward and be sorted. You will sit on the stool, and I will place the hat on your head." He looked down at his scroll. "Althouse, Jamie!"

A nervous looking boy scurried up to the stool. The man in purple place the Sorting Hat on his head, and after a moment's consideration the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the far right cheered enthusiastically and Jamie Althouse scurried along to join them.

"Aubrey, Bertram!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Avery, Jack!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The next table in roared with cheers this time.

"Bailon, Noemi!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table on the far left cheered and the pretty dark haired girl hurried off to join her new house. The hat had been on her head for only seconds. It seemed to take longer with some people than with others.

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius moved from behind her and she could hear James clap his shoulder as Sirius brushed past Olivia with a wink.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James and Olivia clapped along with the Gryffindor table and Sirius looked both relieved and cheerful.

"Briles, Kelly!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brunn, Allan!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Connaughton, Avis!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Cromwell, Olivia!"

Several heads turned and looked at Olivia as she glided toward the stool. James had clapped her shoulder as well and gave her an encouraging smile. She sat on the stool and heard a voice in her head as soon as the hat was set upon it.

"Well, well, Miss Cromwell. Your mother was a perfect Ravenclaw, and you clearly have much of her in you. However there's something in you that's very different from both of your parents. Still, I really think you ought to be GRYFFINDOR!"

That last word was clearly yelled for the hall, and Olivia left the hat at the stool and moved to sit at the Gryffindor table next to Sirius, relieved and pleased. They smiled over to James, who was waiting rather patiently in line.

"Dejong, Neil!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Evans, Lily!"

The red-haired girl walked up to the front of the room, much prettier now that her tears were gone.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

She came and took a seat diagonally across from Olivia.

"Fausett, Ashley!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Ferrel, Daniel!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Foland, Jasmine!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Forand, Lonnerson!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Griese, Clinton!

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Gudgeon, Davy!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Holter, Fernando!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Jun, Carlene!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Kunzman, Margery!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lestrange, Rabastan!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Luo, Hugh!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Lupin, Remus!"

Olivia watched the sickly boy make his way up, James and Peter watching expectantly from the line, Sirius and Olivia watching hopefully from the Gryffindor table.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Once again, there was much cheering, and Remus took a spot directly across from Olivia at the long Gryffindor table.

"MacDonald, Mary!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Makuch, Dominic!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Maza, Freya!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Morecomb, Eva!"

Olivia watched attentively as her near-twin ambled to the front of the hall. Sirius elbowed her eagerly. "Hey, she looks just like you! Are you twins, or something?"

She shook her head. "I've only met her once. I don't know anything about her."

The hat had barely touched her dark hair before screaming, "SLYTHERIN!"

Olivia considered her near-twin some more as she ambled in a satisfied manner toward the Slytherins. She seemed rather pleased with herself.

"Mulciber, Christopher!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Neuendorf, Kurt!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Nott, George!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

The three at the Gryffindor table held their breath once more as the awkward boy made his way to the Sorting Hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

They welcomed him over, and he took a seat next to Olivia.

"Potter, James!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The four of them roared at the final one of their compartment being a Gryffindor, and James took his place across from Sirius, greeting them with his best smile.

"Prunty, Tameka!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Qualey, Ted!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Roath, Noreen!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Robeson, Ryan!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Rosier, Evan!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Schauwecker, Tara!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Seabaugh, Kian!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Sitzer, Jiki!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Sitzer, Kiki!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Snape, Severus!"

Here the greasy-haired boy from the train sauntered forward and took the hat.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Stebbins, Martin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Swart, Liam!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Tomer, Robbie!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Trial, Blair!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Vine, Saundra!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Walburn, Catriona!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Yow, Patrick!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

As the last Gryffindor hurried off to join the table and the last of the clapping died down, the Hall became eerily and expectantly silent.

The oldest professor at the center of the table stood, smiling. "I know you're anxious to eat, and not to hear me speak, and since there is nothing important to be said, let us eat!"

With a clap of his hands, the serving dishes were filled with all sorts of food: beef cobbler, Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, sausages, Shepard's pie and dumplings. The goblets were filled with pumpkin juice. Conversation buzzed around the table, and Olivia tried very hard to listen to everything at once. The most talked-about subject was family, what they did, who they were, where they were from, and how many were Gryffindors as far back as the family could be traced. Olivia did not say much, preferring to listen, and she noticed that Lily Evans, the pretty red-head, did not say much either. She could not help but wonder if this was shyness or a simple interest in others, so she thought she would test the waters.

"What about you, Evans? Were your parents Gryffindors?"

Lily looked up at Olivia with surprise in her eyes and she blushed slightly. "My parents are Muggles." For some reason, she looked almost embarrassed.

Mary MacDonald, a bubbly brunette on the other side of Sirius, reached to take some potatoes from James. "Mine too, don't worry. I've been told it doesn't make any difference, and that some of the best witches and wizards have been Muggleborn."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, it really doesn't make a difference, though some people would like to say it does. They just want something to make themselves seem better than others, so they try to flaunt their blood status like it's something important. But it doesn't matter at all."

Olivia looked at him, wondering what personal experience he had with such people, since he seemed almost bitter when the words escaped his mouth. He had mentioned that his family was thoroughly Slytherin, and had talked about the fact that there was no Muggle blood as far back as anyone could trace.

When the eating died down, the food suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced moments later with dessert: apple pie, treacle tart, clotted cream, and trifle. Olivia had eaten more than her fill, and so only took a little bit of dessert, but she noted that the boys around her absolutely gorged themselves as if they would never eat again. She would remind them of it if they should complain of a stomach ache later that night.

The Headmaster stood once more as the dessert eventually disappeared.

"It is time for the start of term announcements. First years, please note that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to all students. Also, magic is forbidden in the corridors between classes. Quidditch trials are the second week of term. Please see Madame Hooch if you are interested in joining your house team. Now, it is bedtime, so off you go, now!"

First years in Gryffindor huddled closely around a Prefect, who led them up a marble staircase, through several tunnels, and up a few more staircases. At the end of a long corridor there was a portrait of a very fat lady in a gaudy pink dress. She looked at them, haughtily.

"Password?"

"Flabberty swabble."

The portrait swung forward to reveal the Gryffindor house common room. The prefect gave them a quick overview of the Gryffindor common room and housing. Olivia parted with the boys and headed to the girls dormitories, where her things were waiting for her. She took the bed between Mary MacDonald and Lily Evans. The five girls in the room readied themselves for bed, jabbering eagerly about the term that awaited them.

Margery Kunzman nearly squealed with excitement. "It's just so perfect! Hogwarts is everything my mum said it would be! I can't wait to start learning proper magic."

They all agreed enthusiastically. Olivia could hardly sleep that night, even with all the food she had eaten, for her excitement seemed to be getting the best of her. Hopefully, she would not need to be overly rested the next day.


	3. Shameless

**September, 1971**

Classes were grueling. Astronomy was a strong suit of Sirius', so he helped the others identifying stars and such. They also had Herbology taught by a woman named Professor Sprout, History of Magic taught by a ghost named Professor Binns, Charms taught by the very small Professor Flitwick, Transfiguration taught by the severe Minvera McGonagall, Defense Against the Dark Arts taught by a new professor named Amadeus Finderbauker, and Potions taught by Professor Slughorn – the man in purple robes. They shared Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Potions with the Slytherins. First years also had flying lessons on Thursdays before lunch.

During History of Magic, to keep from dozing off like the rest of the room, James, Sirius and Olivia took to playing little games with each other, using enchanted drawings of stick figures in various battle formations on some parchment. To the great dismay of the boys, Olivia nearly always one these little stick-figure battles, simply because she was not afraid to do something a little bit out of the ordinary to win.

Professor Finderbauker was a bit of a favorite of the trio and their friends. First years were taught basic defensive spells that were only dangerous in the rarest of circumstances, and thus were safe to have a bunch of eleven-year-olds trying out. Even so, Peter Pettigrew managed to mess most spells up enough to send poor Robbie Tomer to the hospital wing twice. Professor Finderbauker was the head of Gryffindor house, but he did not seem to show any favoritism, which was a bit frustrating.

Charms class with Professor Flitwick was always nice. He was rather small, and therefore extremely unimposing, but he managed to teach them such things as levitation, Cushioning Charms, and some charms to do with flames. At times, he gave up on trying to gain control of the class and allowed them to do what they pleased, which James, Sirius, Olivia, Peter, and even Remus took full advantage of, to plan pranks and play games. Lily Evans always seemed upset by this, as Charms was clearly one of her favorite subjects.

Transfiguration was a very difficult subject, often with a lot of homework. James and Olivia were particularly good at it, and found themselves helping many others in their year. Professor McGonagall held them to high standards, and the class moved slowly because of the dangerous nature of the subject, but when things were accomplished by any given person, it was a celebratory occasion. Not in the classroom, but rather in the common room, after the fact.

Astronomy with Professor Sinistra was just one night a week, which was good because nobody could have survived it more often than that. To stand with your neck in awkward positions for hours, plotting stars and planets until your thumbs twinged with the pain of gripping your quill, only to find out you were completely off by a significant margin, was excruciating and miserable work. It would have made a suitable punishment if the wizarding world did not view it as an important and even essential subject for all witches and wizards to have a background in.

Double Potions with Professor Slughorn was not as bad as one would have imagined. Eva and Olivia purposefully kept their distances, and their friends prudently did not ask about their bizarre resemblance. Lily and Severus huddled in a corner. Their unlikely friendship stirred something unexplainable within the Gryffindor community. Olivia wondered if their friendship would last the rumors, or if Lily's wonderful reputation as a likable, sweet girl would. Hobnobbing with Slytherins so closely was a bad idea. James and Sirius especially used Potions as a time to pick on "Snivellus", and Olivia joined in on occasion, but Lily was not amused and Severus was downright livid.

Professor Slughorn seemed eager to find students with great potential in a variety of areas, and sent out invitations in the first week to students he thought might be of a certain caliber to join him for dinner. Olivia, James, Sirius, and Remus all received an invitation, as well as Lily Evans. Peter did not.

James looked at the invitation to the "Slug Club" with curiosity. "Who else in our year was invited?"

Olivia rattled off the names she had heard earlier. "The Sitzer twins, Schauwecker, Walburn, Maza, Morecomb, Snivellus, Lestrange, and Evans."

Sirius looked at her when she said Morecomb, but kept his mouth shut.

James nodded. "And do we know of any older students already in the club?"

Sirius nodded.

"The older Lestrange brother, the Malfoy Prefect over at Slytherin, that Wilkes bloke… Pretty much any Slytherin with a brain."

"Well, that can't be very many," Olivia reasoned.

James' face contorted. "Well, I don't know about this, then."

Olivia sighed. "Shouldn't we at least try it out before we say no? See what it's all about? It's not like this is the final decision moment, he's still trying to decide who's going to get the final invite! Let's just go and see?"

Remus nodded, and Sirius and James murmured a faint and reluctant consent. In three days' time, the four of them would be dining with ten other top students from their year.

Meanwhile, they had joint Herbology with Professor Sprout and her Hufflepuffs, who were a generally agreeable bunch. When Remus and Olivia were not reigning in James and Sirius from playing with things that they were not supposed to touch, they had a grand time with the eccentrically amazing Kiki Sitzer of Hufflepuff, who was classy and stylish. Olivia was a big fan of the Sitzer twins and took any opportunity to be around them as a treat.

Flying lessons with Madame Hooch were a favorite of James and Olivia. All the first years were together for these, but James and Olivia were the obvious naturals. Everyone expected at least one of them to make the house team the next year. Jiki Sitzer was also quite good with a broom, as was Olivia's near-twin and Catriona Walburn. However, flying was not easy. Mary MacDonald couldn't even get off the ground in the first lesson, and Lonnie Forand crashed twice.

The second week of classes required more homework, but Olivia found herself getting lost less and less. She, Lily and Mary made it to the greenhouse on time for Double Herbology Monday morning. For first year Herbology students, the greenhouse was less a greenhouse and more a lecture hall. Holding the first year lectures in the greenhouses made it easier for Professor Sprout to show and explain the various plants without having to take them from their natural habitat. On this particular Monday morning, Olivia slid into a seat between James and Sirius, who welcomed her with sleepy grins. Kiki Sitzer turned around.

"Good morning! Are you all going to the Slughorn dinner?"

Olivia nodded. "Yes, we plan to. How was your weekend, Kiki?"

Her face lit up. "Oh, it was lovely. Jiki and I wandered the grounds and I painted. This place really is quite beautiful!"

Olivia smiled. "Oh, you paint? That's lovely. I'm a horrible artist myself. I'd like to see your work sometime, if that's alright."

The girl blushed a bit and nodded, but just then Professor Sprout walked in, so she whipped back around in her seat. The large, earthy woman with dirt under her fingernails and in her hair moseyed up to the front of the class in a surprisingly springy fashion.

"Good morning class! Go ahead and get your books out. Please turn to page 38 and go to about the middle of the page. Today we'll be talking about Devil's Snare."

In Herbology, nobody really got a word in edgewise with Kiki in the room, including Professor Sprout. In fact, though the woman hardly played favorites, everyone knew she regarded the Sitzer girl as her star pupil, and it really had nothing to do with Kiki being in her house. She simply knew plants. Devil's Snare was no exception.

"Devil's Snare," she said when called on, "is effectively an attack plant. It's a good guard of things, and will strangle someone who wanders into it unknowingly. It attacks most viciously when being struggled against. By relaxing one can survive it, but if one cannot relax, Devil's Snare hates light, so conjuring fire is the best option."

Professor Sprout smiled. "Very good, Miss Sitzer, ten points for Hufflepuff. Now, here I have a little seedling of Devil's Snare. It can't kill at this age, but if you let it get ahold of a finger you may find yourself short a finger at the end of the struggle, so I'll as those of you here in the front row not to touch." Her eyes moved deliberately to Lonnie Forand, who was eyeing the plant as though he had just been challenged.

A short demonstration was performed by Professor Sprout's forefinger, both of refusing to struggle and of using fire to ward off the plant. Olivia nearly shuddered at the thought of being strangled by a plant and vowed to stay far away from the thing, full-grown or not.

The break after Herbology led Olivia, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus to a study room, which was empty. Few people were behind enough on their work in the second week of term to be studying in seclusion during a Monday morning break. So the five of them simply shot sparks and jets of light out of their wands, seeing who could create more colors. Effectively, they were staging a five-person light show, or rather a four-person light show, seeing as Peter avoided sparks like the plague since nearly setting Noemi Bailon on fire only a few days before. The sparks were not supposed to be dangerous, but then, Peter could make anything dangerous.

Suddenly, a head popped into the door, with long, luxurious blonde hair. The face was that of the Slytherin Prefect, Lucius Malfoy, whose face held a consistent jeer.

"Eva? What are you doing with this riff-raff?"

Olivia frowned. "I beg your pardon? They're not riff-raff and I'm not Eva."

He studied her for a moment, and then seem to realize his mistake. Rather than appearing embarrassed, his sneer deepened. "Well, your childish light show is over. The break is nearly done. Get to your classes before I start docking points."

James opened his mouth to smart off, but Olivia kicked him in the shin and he closed it again. The five of them gathered their things and hurried off to another hideously boring History of Magic lecture.

Later that evening, as James and Sirius were practicing the Levitation Charm by making things float around the room, Remus and Olivia sat by the fire of the Gryffindor common room finishing up their essays on the Bat-Bogey Hex for Professor Finderbauker.

The portrait swung open and in walked Robbie Tomer and Lonnie Forand. As it happened, these were the two people James and Sirius like to make fun of most, after Snape, of course. Remus looked up, nervously. Almost on cue, James and Sirius stopped what they were doing and turned to the pair who had just walked in.

"Heya, Tomer!"

"Hiya, Forand!"

"Where've you been?"

"Oh, James, they've probably been studying again."

"Studying. Ha. They shouldn't even bother. Every time they try one of them ends up in the hospital wing."

The James and Sirius laughed, and Robbie and Lonnie looked embarrassed. It was true, they had a tendency of putting themselves in the hospital wing, but half the time Peter put them there.

Remus turned back to his paper, staring intently at the parchment as if willing it to take the rest of the night, no matter how little he had left to write. Peter looked over at the scene, interested. Lily and Mary walked down the stairs, just as James and Sirius began their usual jokes over Lonnie's name.

"So, Lonnerson, what's a Lonner?"

"Oh, don't be silly, Sirius, there's no such thing as a Lonner."

"Well, if there's no such thing as a Lonner, then how can one have a son?"

"They were obviously too stupid to spell Loner right. He's really a Lonerson, aren't you, Forand?"

"Lonerson Forand. Hey, can we call you Lonie?"

"Haha, Lonie Forand. Good one, Sirius!"

Lonnie Forand looked as though he was about to cry. Lily, who had cleverly avoided much contact with James, Sirius and Olivia since the train ride over, stormed right up to James and Sirius with a look on her face that might have burned a hole right through them, if looks could do that sort of thing. Olivia jumped to her feet. This was about to get ugly.

"What's the matter with you two? Leave them alone! They didn't do anything to you."

James smiled. "Actually, Evans, they breathed on me, they took up some of my air, and one of Tomer's Potions debacles last week nearly singed my robes."

To be fair, the potion had caught James on fire when it exploded, but Olivia had put it out before any real damage was done.

It was clear that none of these reasons were particularly valid in Lily's eyes. "What is wrong with you that you've got to pick on everyone in sight? It's bad enough you won't leave the kids in other houses alone, but these two live with you! They have to sleep in the same room as you! You have no right to terrorize people like this!"

Olivia kicked James in the shin again, before he said something else stupid and slid in between James and Sirius to join the fight.

"Evans, give it a rest. They were only having a little fun."

Lily turned her furious eyes to Olivia.

"Fun? And torturing other human beings is fun? Forand was close to tears!"

Lonnie, who had regained his composure, retorted furiously. "I was not! I was just angry! I wasn't crying!"

Once again, Sirius and James exploded with laughter and Olivia elbowed them vigorously. "Look, Evans, he says he was fine. Nobody asked for your help, so why don't you run off and play with your little Slytherin friends and let Gryffindors handle their own affairs."

The common room went silent and ever head turned to the two girls. Even Sirius fidgeted uncomfortably. Olivia knew she shouldn't have said it, and that she had a crossed a line she many never get to cross back, but the words just slipped out. Lily just stared at her, mouth hanging agape, cheeks slowly flushing until her face was bright red. The tears welled up in her green eyes and when she could hold them back no more, she pushed past Olivia, grabbed Mary's wrist, and headed back up to the girls dormitory.

Once she disappeared, all eyes turned back to Olivia, who shifted uncomfortably under the weight of all the stares and took her seat by the fireplace again, aiming to finish her paper. When people got tired of watching her, they went back to their previous tasks, silent this time, but looking back to her every so often with shock in their eyes.

James went up to bed, and Sirius was about to join him when he stopped, turned around, and sat down on the armrest of Olivia's chair.

"Livia, are you sure you meant to say all that?"

She did not look at him. She was alarmed by the softness and worry in his voice, and she did not think she could look him in the eye at the moment. "Of course I didn't. But if I try to apologize right now she won't accept it. She really should have minded her own business."

Sirius nodded solemnly.

"Maybe, but next time, let me fight my battles?"

She smiled wryly and looked up at him.

"Don't you dare even think about it, Sirius. Who would clean up your messes? No, we're in this together. You'd do the same for me."

He smiled back and placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Well, I'm off to bed then. I've got to wake up early enough to finish my paper in the morning." He winked and headed up the stairs.

Remus sighed. "He means early enough for me to finish his paper. Well, since mine's done, I suppose that means I better get to bed. I expect he'll be getting me up at six, because I don't think he even started it."

Olivia smiled and said goodnight. She lingered in the common room for a few moments, watching the fire burn down. When she realized that half the room was staring at her again, she stood up and swiftly headed to her dormitory. There, Mary was sleeping and Lily was sitting up in her bed, trying to hide her face for the tears. Olivia sighed and sat at the foot of Lily's bed.

"Evans?"

No answer.

She sighed again. "Look, I know I shouldn't have said that. Who you're friends with is none of my business. I got flustered and the words just came out. I didn't mean it." Still no answer. "Look, I think you're ten times the Gryffindor Peter is. That boy would jump at his own shadow!" Still no answer. Olivia looked down at her hands, ashamed of herself. "Well, I just thought you might like to know that I'm sorry. Which I am. But I'll go to bed now and leave you alone."

Olivia stood and went over to her bed, but turned when she heard stirring noises behind her. Lily had lifted her head and wiped her face.

"Call me Lily, please."

Olivia nodded. "Okay. Call me Livia."

Lily frowned.

"Livia? Not Olivia?"

Olivia smiled. "Yeah, it's what everybody calls me who really knows me, because I hate my full name, but I like it without the 'O'. I just really like names that start with 'L'."

With a smile, Lily wiped her face again. "Like mine."

They talked for a while, each lying down in their own beds, facing each other.

"So why do you hang out with Snivellus?"

"Severus."

"Sorry. Why do you hang out with him, anyway? He's rude, funny looking, nerdy…"

Lily frowned and Olivia's voice trailed off. "He and I live near each other. He's the one who told me about Hogwarts before I came. It was nice, because I didn't know anything, and neither did my parents. He's nice to me." She tilted her head. "Why do you hang out with those boys?"

Olivia bit her lip. "Well, James' parents are friends of my father, and he's the one who told me everything he knew about Hogwarts. My dad and I didn't really even talk about it. And James introduced me to Sirius on the train, and then it just sort of worked out that we all sat together and we bonded. Maybe you would have bonded with us too, if Sn- Severus hadn't come along."

"Oh, no, I wasn't even listening to you guys. I was pretty upset."

"How come?"

Lily's eyes grew a bit misty again and she shrugged. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Olivia could tell there was something really bothering her new friend, but she didn't press her. She just nodded and fidgeted with her bed sheet.

Margery and Noemi wandered through the door just then, rolling up the parchment that Olivia assumed held their essays for Professor Finderbauker. The four of them whispered about the essay until they all fell asleep, very careful not to wake up Mary, who was snoring all through the night.


	4. Broken Vow

**August, 1978**

Olivia wandered through the house she had been sent to, the headquarters of the group Dumbledore had contacted them about. She had encountered no other people yet, and the building was dark. Perhaps she was the first to arrive. Suddenly, she felt arms snaking around her and she jumped.

"Well, well, well," said a familiar male voice. "If it isn't little Livia Cromwell."

"Sure is," said another familiar, nearly identical voice. "How've you been since we left you last, princess? Behaving yourself, I hope?"

"Fabian? Gideon?"

The hall lights went up and sure enough, there was no mistaking those adorable, identical crooked smiles and twinkling blue eyes. The three of them laughed as they led her into the kitchen, where the meeting was going to take place.

"So, princess," said Fabian, "how have you been? When Dumbledore said that the Marauders were joining us, we just knew we had to make it to this meeting, no matter what."

"Had to check on our protégés," said Gideon.

"And our best girl, of course."

"So how are you, princess?"

"You look even more ravishing than when we last saw you."

She laughed.

"Yes, well, I believe I was twelve then, so I should think so. I'm fine, I suppose. I've been worse, certainly. You missed a lot when you graduated."

"Good pranks?" they chorused, eager to hear the greatest hits version of Marauder madness.

"Damn right," said an even more familiar male voice from the door of the kitchen. It was Sirius. Olivia's heart raced as he walked in. "Hey, boys, nice to see you." He turned to Olivia and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. "Good to see you again, love. I was beginning to think you just weren't going to speak to me again. Was I right?"

That stung.

"Sirius, I'm sorry. I thought I was protecting you, but even Dumbledore told me I was being stupid. So I'm sorry. I'm here, and I'm ready to work with you again, love."

He smiled.

"Good. I have some things I need to ask you, then, when we finish this meeting."

Fabian raised his eyebrows.

"What's going on between you two, exactly? Seems we really did miss a lot."

Olivia just laughed as Sirius stood behind her, resting his hands gently but possessively on her shoulders.

"Well, boys, Livia and I have been together since we were sixteen and I'm madly in love with her. So if either of you had plans of snagging her, you've been warned, she's off limits."

She laughed even harder as the Prewett boys looked truly disappointed.

"Damn," Gideon sighed. "Well, you've certainly grown into a beautiful woman, princess, and you've got yourself a damn fine catch there, Black."

Sirius smiled down at her with pride.

"I know."

The meeting seemed to drag on, all sorts of people and information, all being introduced at once, to the point where Olivia's head was spinning. Sirius had his hand on her thigh, gently and absently stroking her leg with his thumb. That may have contributed somewhat to her lack of attention to the meeting.

After the meeting, she was the polite daughter of a politician as she had been raised, greeting people whose names she could recall from the introductions at the beginning of the meeting and exchanging pleasantries until Sirius, impatient child that he was, dragged her off by her wrist to the entrance hall and pushed her up against the wall.

"I've missed you, love. I wished you would write to me or something, anything, just to know you were okay."

She gazed up into his shining gray eyes.

"I know, love," she whispered back, caressing his cheek with her thumb, "and I'm so sorry. I wish I hadn't done it."

"You know what hurts the most?"

Olivia shook her head, bracing herself for the worst. He pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal a bruise, small and nearly faded. Her heart broke. Her mark had almost faded. She brushed it gently with her fingertip, pained that she had hurt him so much so needlessly. What had she been thinking?

"When you left Moony, he showed us his mark and told us that when it was gone, he would know he had lost you. I checked this every morning, begging you in my mind to fix it, to come back to me. Please, Livia," he whispered, holding her hands in his, pleading with his eyes. "Fix it?"

First, she pressed her lips gently to his and he responded instantly, pressing her harder against the wall, deepening the kiss. He was being so rough; he had gone so long without her. She slowly worked her way down to his neck and renewed the bite, sad that he held in his noises, but knowing that they didn't want anyone walking in on them, especially Dumbledore or Mad-Eye. When she pulled away from his neck, he pushed her even harder into the wall.

"Love, I want you to move in with me," he hissed.

"What?" she breathed, not sure she had heard him right.

"You know I have my own house. It's not the Cromwell Manor and it's not the Potter Manor, but it's big enough for the two of us and I'd give you anything you wanted, anything you asked for, love. I just hate waking up and knowing you're somewhere else. I want you next to me all night, every night."

For a moment, she weighed the options in her mind. Her father would miss her, but he loved that she was with Sirius and he wouldn't mind her moving in with him. Besides, it was time she moved in somewhere that wasn't her father's house. She was a grown woman now. James and Lily were getting married soon. It was time she and Sirius started taking steps toward an adult relationship, even though she knew in the back of her mind that she could never have a real life with him. Olivia fought back those thoughts, her heart more than aware that she might not have much time left with him. With that knowledge, there was only one thing she could say.

"When do I move in?"

He grinned and took her lips in his again, and they lost themselves quickly in the passion of the kiss. What seemed like a year later, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat nearby.

Sure enough, when Olivia opened her eyes and looked to the side, not taking her lips from Sirius's (who was ignoring the sound), there were Lily, James, and the Prewett twins watching them. She thought she could see Remus and Peter behind them, but the hall was very dark.

"Livia," said Lily, "we have shopping to do, dear. The wedding's coming up, and we haven't even gotten our dresses fitted."

Sirius pulled his lips from Olivia's and hovered them over her neck, murmuring, "Oh, bugger off, Evans," before nipping and sucking Olivia's neck as if nobody was watching them.

Moaning in spite of herself, which caused laughs from the twins, Olivia gasped, "Um, what, right now, Lily?"

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well, considering we have appointments to keep, yes, Livia. Trust me, Black, I'll fight you over her for today, but she's all yours once this wedding's over."

Sirius seemed to Olivia to be ignoring Lily as he began tracing circles along Olivia's collarbone with his tongue, but the excess of male laughter in the hall caused her to look down. Sirius was flipping Lily off.

Olivia laughed breathily, despite Lily's glares.

"Sirius, love," she gasped, "I really do need to go."

He groaned and trailed kisses up to her ear, which he bit and sucked playfully. She sucked in breath sharply.

"Dammit, Sirius, you can do this later. I really do need to go with Lily, and I'm sure you and Prongs have things you need to take care of."

Again, he seemed to be ignoring what he didn't want to hear, sliding his hands up her shirt, which caused Lily to gasp and cover her eyes.

"But if I let you leave, love," he whispered right into her ear, so that nobody else could hear, "how do I know you'll come back this time?"

His fingers tracing her skin made her shiver and the Prewetts were cheering him on, as though they were at some sort of distasteful bar and this was their entertainment for the night. She half expected them to start tossing coins at her.

"Sirius, love, I give you my word. I promise, I'll be at your place tonight, okay?"

He couldn't ignore her anymore. He looked her dead in the eye and with his sad, gray, tearful eyes he whimpered, "You promised last time and you disappeared anyway."

That was it. She began to cry. She couldn't take it.

"Love, please," she whispered, falling into his arms, holding herself up against his body. "Please, darling, I don't know how to bring you to trust me again. I will come back, and I'll never break a promise to you again, on my life!"

Her eyes were searching his, begging his, to forgive her. He hugged her tightly for a moment, his body shaking with his near-sobs.

"Okay, love, it's okay. Please don't cry, Livia." He pulled back, smiling just a little. "I'll be waiting for you tonight. Have fun with Lily. I'll be thinking about you the whole time."

With that, Olivia gave him a quick peck on the cheek, taking Lily's hand and waking out of the door of the headquarters, hearing before she closed the door: "Oi, Prewetts! Tongues back in, that's my girlfriend you're looking at!"

Oh, Sirius.

The dress fittings went well. Olivia was just wearing a little black dress, nothing special. Lily's dress, on the other hand, was a giant, spectacular creation. Olivia hated giant, spectacular creations, but this was Lily's day, and she had to admit it looked nice on her best friend.

"So," Lily said awkwardly as they looked over china patterns, "moving in with Sirius?"

"No jokes, Lily," Olivia growled. "He feels like I betrayed him, and he's completely right. I mean, you were there when Dumbledore basically told me to stop being an idiot, grow up, and talk to Sirius. If Albus Dumbledore thinks my love decisions were bad enough to point it out, I've truly failed."

"Well," Lily said casually, frowning at the china thoughtfully, "I never would have said this before, but I really do think you two are perfect for each other. I've never been very close to Sirius, you know, but he would come around when James and I were going over wedding plans and he looked so different, so miserable. Nothing James did would cheer him up and he just looked like the walking dead. I hate to admit I was wrong after all these years, but I think he really loves you."

The girls looked at each other and giggled. Lily admitting that Sirius loved Olivia was like saying that she was admitting that Father Christmas wasn't real (except he was, Olivia insisted it, no matter what anyone else said).

"Remind me why you dragged me out to look at china patterns?" Olivia sighed.

"B-because," Lily said, blush creeping onto her cheeks, "I tried with James, and h-he didn't know anything…"

Ah, so Olivia was being used for her snobby pureblood upbringing. The truth was she, like James, never paid attention to what her food came off of. She just ate the food. Unlike James, however, she was clever enough to take advantage of situations to get what she wanted.

"Whose china do you like better, my family's or the Potter's?" Olivia asked, looking down at all the china in front of them.

"Yours," Lily said happily. Olivia called over a sales person.

"I have a question," she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes. "You serve all the best families, correct?"

"Naturally, Miss," the young salesman said with pride.

"So you've serviced the Cromwell china?"

"We sold the Cromwell line their original china centuries ago, Miss."

"Very good. Well, my name is Olivia Cromwell, and I want you to get Miss Evans here the closest match to the Cromwell china you currently have available, no matter the cost. I'll cover it."

"Oh, Livia," Lily cried, blushing. "I can't ask you to do that!"

"Consider it your birthday present," Olivia laughed. "I doubt that after this wedding Sirius will let me out of the house soon enough to shop for one."

The salesman showed them the closest china match they had available and Lily loved it. It was prohibitively expensive, of course, but Olivia could certainly afford it.

"You made that florist appointment for the same reason, didn't you?" Olivia laughed. Lily nodded. "Well, flowers are easy. Get a bunch of lilies and charm them gold for Gryffindor. Tie them with crimson ribbon. It's fairly cheap, it's symbolic, James will actually appreciate it, and it will look nice. See, no appointment necessary, just go in, place an order, and get back out here."

"You just want to get back to Sirius," Lily smirked.

"Absolutely. Now, hurry up, sweetheart, we don't have all day."

Lily bounced off to the florist, placing her order, paying the base cost, and bouncing back to Olivia with her face flushed and excited. She was so happy, so thrilled to be marrying, and to be marrying James. Olivia would never have that. She tried not to let it show on her face how she felt about that point.

"Well, that's all taken care of. Mrs. Potter helped me with most things," Lily said, not noticing the change in Olivia's demeanor. "You have to promise me you and Sirius don't get killed on that mission Dumbledore's putting you on. You need to be back and alive for my wedding, both of you."

"It's a basic recon mission," Olivia snorted. "The worst case scenario is Sirius scars some Muggle for life because he forgets he's supposed to be a Muggle. Speaking of, let's get to his place the Muggle way, all right? I want to get used to Muggle London before he and I take off."

They walked out of Diagon Alley and Lily led her off in the direction of the Underground. Olivia had spent very little time in Muggle London, only as much time as she had spent there when visiting Lily, who didn't actually live in London.

"Do you know how you're supposed to pull off your assignment?" Lily asked. "I mean, are you supposed to be honeymooners or something?"

"No, that's why I don't understand why he wants us," Olivia said with a laugh. "He wants us to be barely acquainted business partners. He said that people with a suit get all kinds of information in the Muggle world that regular people wouldn't have any access to. At least, when you're trying to get information from ordinary people. It's a good way to earn trust."

"He's right," Lily mused. "If I guy in a suit or a lab coat or something came to my door asking my dad if he had some spare cash for the train, my dad would give it to him, but if he was wearing regular clothes, I think my dad would assume he was going to spend it on alcohol or drugs or something. Average Muggles trust suits."

"Yeah, but I'm wondering how Sirius is going to be about it," Olivia said honestly. "I mean, firstly, he doesn't know how to dress Muggle, and secondly, he doesn't know how to pretend he doesn't know me. I'm not sure he could keep his hands off me to save his life."

"He may have to do just that," Lily mused. "I mean, we're talking about this mission like it's just nothing, but if we're not careful, any mission could be dangerous. Like I said, you'd better be careful, because I need you both alive for the wedding!"

"Yes ma'am!" Olivia joked. "Anyway, since I've helped you with this stuff, could you do me a huge favor and help Sirius dress for this mission? Teach him all things Muggle, I beg you."

"I don't know," Lily said hesitantly. "What makes you think he'll listen to me?"

"Please, Lily? Please?" Olivia begged comically. "I mean, you're actually Muggle-born. You have expertise none of us can match. And if you want us alive for your wedding…"

"Fine," Lily sighed. "Fine, I'll dress your puppy dog. Don't expect me to be enthusiastic about it!"

The girls made their way toward Sirius's house and Olivia was acutely aware of what she was asking of Lily. Sirius would be disagreeable, moody, and difficult to work with. But Olivia wouldn't have asked Lily to help if she hadn't known the redhead could handle him. After all, Lily was scary when she wanted to be, and she had James to hold over his head now. James would cooperate, wanting to keep his wife happy before the wedding. Sirius had no choice but to comply with Lily's wishes.

At the moment, Olivia had to comply with Sirius's wishes, and so she couldn't be the one giving him orders. She had hurt him badly, and she needed to make amends before the old dynamic between them could be restored. They would be walking on eggshells for at least a week, and all she could do was hope that everything between them would be mended by the time they went on their first mission.

"That's it," Lily said, pointing at the house at the end of the little road, similar to the way Grimmauld Place, his old street, was set up. It was a charming little place. Olivia had been before, but it had been so long… they had still been in school. She had even stayed there with him for a time, but she hadn't ever expected to be moving in.

They knocked on the door and Sirius flung it open immediately, wrapping his arms around Olivia, thanking Lily, and closing the door on the ginger's face as he yanked Olivia inside the house.

"I went to your father's place while you two were out," he said. "We threw together your things. If you need something else, you can go get it later. Right now, we have catching up to do."

He carried her off to the bedroom, ignoring her giggles, her flailing feet, and everything but making amends. The world could wait.


	5. Broken

**September, 1971**

At breakfast, Olivia proofread James' and Peter's essays while Remus finished up Sirius'. Peter picked at his toast and James poked at his eggs. Sirius eyed Olivia warily as she ran her eyes and her wand down James' parchment. Remus seemed to be oblivious to the whole scene as he frantically scribbled down the last of what Sirius had to copy before class. Olivia could feel the tension and slammed her wand and James' essay down on the table.

"I can't finish this while you're all staring at me like that, so out with it. What's wrong? Is my hair sticking out? Do I have egg bits on my face?"

The four boys looked at her, and then Remus went back to his frantic scribbling. Peter blushed and began stuffing toast in his face, and James and Sirius exchanged worried glances.

James spoke first. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Perfectly well, thank you, I got plenty of sleep. I'm being snappy because you're acting like nimrods."

Sirius handed her a piece of toast he had buttered himself.

"Alright, out with it, did you and Evans fight again in your room?"

She took the toast and laughed, handing back James' essay.

"Everything's fine. I apologized and we talked. We're fine. I might even go so far as to say that we're friends now. That is, if we can make it through the week as well as we did earlier this morning."

The tension in the air disappeared and James happily scarfed up his eggs.

They survived most of the day, and later that afternoon, the five of them made their way down to Double Potions with Professor Slughorn. Somehow, they were the first ones there.

"Ah, hello! You're just a tad early! Well, come in, come on in and get set up. There's no need to just stand around!"

They set up their cauldrons under the careful eye of Professor Slughorn and Olivia informed him before other students began to file in that she, Sirius, James, and Remus intended on accepting his dinner offer for Thursday.

Slughorn beamed. "Excellent, I was hoping you'd be able to make it! Well, you're in for a treat, because today we're making Forgetfulness Potions. They're a bit tricky, but you've got some very talented potionmakers in your year, yourself included, Miss Cromwell!"

Olivia could feel a bit of crimson creeping into her cheeks as she thanked Professor Slughorn and was saved from further one-on-one interaction by a mass of her classmates entering the room and setting up their cauldrons.

Having made a point of setting up her cauldron on Sirius' left, just on the edge of her group, Olivia was pleased to find that Lily noticed the gesture of good-will and set up her cauldron right next to her. Severus followed Lily, who stood as always, the bridge between the two houses in the middle of the room.

Professor Slughorn announced the assignment, and the students spent the remaining two hours attempting to brew a suitable Forgetfulness Potion. James' Potion was smoking terribly, and of course, Snape sneered at him, quite satisfied, but James was not alone. Many of the potions in the room were turning out awfully, which did not seem to surprise nor disappoint Professor Slughorn, who seemed to actually expect this out of a bunch of first years' brewing one of their first potions.

On the other hand, Lily, Snape, and Olivia's potions looked rather identical, not only to each other's, but also to the descriptions in the book. In fact, Sirius occasionally poked his nose over Olivia's cauldron and frowned, turning back to his own in disappointment. It was turning an ugly shade of green, instead of the dark purple it was supposed to be at the stage he had reached.

At the end of class, Professor Slughorn went from cauldron to cauldron, frowning deeply the majority of the time, though kindly not picking anyone to pieces. He did pause at the three aforementioned cauldrons and give their owners one of his beaming smiles each, which were well deserved. The potions not only looked right, Lily's was even near perfect. Sirius was now frowning visibly and not even bothering to try and conceal his frustration.

At the end of class, they were assigned a bit of light reading, which very few of them were actually going to do, and they scurried off to their common rooms for a bit of free time. The boys went to their dormitory to put their things away and grab something of James that he wanted to show off, so Olivia waited for them in one of the armchairs in the common room.

Lily grabbed the arm chair next to her. They did not say anything to each other, but their friendly looks at each other were enough to say everything they needed to say.

Remus ambled down the stairs first. He sat on the ground in front of the fireplace. He wasn't looking as ill as he had at the beginning of term, but he said he did get sick a lot. Olivia felt sorry for him. He was smart, but not incredibly charming. He was nice, but so incredibly sickly.

"Remus, did you finish the homework for Transfiguration? I was going to have James look at mine, but then I realized he probably hadn't even done his yet."

He smiled and nodded. "I'll look over it, but I'm not near as good at Transfiguration as you and James."

She laughed. "You flatter, Remus. No, but really, you can't be any worse at homework than James. He can do the spells all right, but I don't think he's even touched his books, in any subject."

Lily gaped.

"Really? But why not? They're so very interesting."

Olivia shrugged.

"Too many words? Oh, he's touched them. I was there when he bought them, and he certainly touched them then, but I don't know about since we got to Hogwarts. He likes learning the spells, but let's be honest, theory and history don't have the same dazzling effect, and James likes a good show."

As she said his name, whoever should appear but James, followed closely by Sirius and Peter, carrying a small box and wearing a mischievous grin?

At the sight of him, Lily stood and marched to her dormitory, nose in the air. James did not seem to notice. He was too focused on the box he was holding, which was quite small. He came up to where Remus and Olivia were sitting. Sirius grinned almost as wide as James, if that was possible, and said, "You need to see this."

James, Olivia, Sirius, Peter, and Remus found themselves in a deserted classroom not ten minutes later, somewhere in the Charms corridor. They set Peter on guard, since he and Sirius had already seen whatever was in the box. Olivia expected some sort of fantastic creature, some sort of pet he had kept hidden until he could be sure who his friends were. After all, if it was not a cat, owl, or toad it might not be allowed. Olivia was not really sure if other animals were allowed as pets at Hogwarts.

She turned to James, impatiently.

"All right, James, what's the big deal? What's in that bloody box of yours?"

He opened it slowly and dramatically. Inside was silvery, almost slippery fabric, folded far more carefully than any sort of fabric possession of James's she had ever seen. Sirius was grinning like an absolute idiot, and Remus looked as confused as Olivia felt. He looked at James and asked, "Well, what is it?"

James nodded and pulled the fabric out. It was a cloak, big enough for a grown man, and yet when he put it on…

"Oh my…"

He had disappeared. Sirius had put the hood up as he was putting it on, so the effect was instantaneous. She had never seen anything like it. James had an invisibility cloak, and a damn good one.

"Where did you get it, James?" Remus was admiring the lack of obvious human presence where James had just been standing, and they had to assume he still was, especially when his voice answered from that same spot.

"My dad gave it for me as a Christmas present last year. He's getting old and said there's not much he could use it for now anyway. But his dad gave it to him before he came to Hogwarts, so he figured I should have it."

Sirius was grinning, still. "That's not all, James's dad told him that he could fit himself and four others for sure during his first few years, less as people grew a bit, but that he thought he might have been able to do five, but never needed to."

Olivia's mind was reeling with pranks and adventures that had suddenly become not only possible, but a very solid reality. "There are five of us. Oh, this is brilliant. James, you are –"

"– amazing? Fantastic?" He took off the cloak, still grinning. "Charming? Handsome?"

She raised one eyebrow, as dangerously as she could, like her father always did when she was doing something really bad. "Don't push your luck, Potter.

"The fact of the matter is," said Sirius, "this opens all new doors for us. We could do some really fantastic things! Imagine, the adventures, the pranks, the acts of mischief!" His eyes sparkled at the thought. "We're going to have more fun at Hogwarts than has ever been had!"

Remus did not look entirely pleased, but then, he did not seem to be ready to turn down the idea of adventures. For some reason, when you used the word 'adventure', there was hardly a person who would not follow you – especially those people who fell into the category of eleven-year-old boys.

As they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room, they saw a gang of Slytherin boys coming the other way, and Olivia looked briefly to be sure that James had not left a corner of the cloak sticking out of the bag. Snape was among them, as well as Jack Avery, Rabastan Lestrange, Christopher Mulciber, George Nott, and Evan Rosier. It was six to five, as the Slytherins quickly noted as the two gangs sized each other up. Just as they began to draw wands, a Prefect from Ravenclaw turned the corner and frowned at them, and the two groups sulked, heading their separate ways, not wanting to get in trouble so quickly after arriving. There would be plenty of time for that later.

When they had climbed back into the common room, they found that it was nearly empty, as people had gone outside to enjoy what was the now fleeting good weather of fall before winter arrived and there were no more green trees or ground visible from beneath the snow. They put James' bag back into his trunk and ran down the stairs as fast as their feet would take them to go enjoy the grounds on what they felt could very possibly be the last sunny day of the year.

They found a spot on the hill, in view of the lake, but not next to it, close but not right next to a giant willow tree. They were very careful to avoid getting too close to this tree, which was known as the Whomping Willow, and it did exactly what one might suspect – attacked anyone who came too close by swinging it's branches viciously at the unsuspecting passerby. Older students said that it had been added over the summer, it hadn't been on the grounds in years previous. The addition was a source of great interest for the first few weeks. Why would Professor Dumbledore put a giant, dangerous tree on the grounds that hadn't already been there? It wasn't a pretty tree, and it certainly wasn't something that even the N.E.W.T. students would be learning about in Herbology. The gang had discussed this tree several times, but had come up with no real purpose for it.

Remus seemed less than interested in these discussions, but that wasn't so odd for him, since he was less than interested in many of the topics James, Sirius and Olivia dreamed up. Peter, they thought but never said out loud, had probably never had an original thought in his life, and that was fine. He simply agreed with one or the other of them on every issue, and they could use him as a tie-breaker if they were not sure what to do on free time. This wasn't usually necessary, since the only dissenting voice was usually Remus, and one person didn't fare well against three. Still, he was there if they would ever need him.

Today, however, they were not interested in discussing the Whomping Willow, they simply sat in sight of it out of habit. Today, they wanted to discuss the various adventures they might take with James' invisibility cloak. The whole castle was open to them, the kitchens, the various unexplored corridors. They had a chance to find out more about the castle than anyone before them ever had. But more importantly, it would allow their various previously discussed mischiefs to become reality, not just wishing. Some things could be done without a cloak, and really ought to be, but some things would be better with it.

Olivia lay down on the grass, gazing up at the sky, as James and Sirius chattered away about the various possibilities of the cloak. Remus came and laid next to her, while Peter listened eagerly to the other two. They simply laid there in silence, staring at the sky. Finally, Remus spoke.

"Tell me about your mother, please."

Olivia propped herself up on her elbows, raising herself just enough to look at him, but not really sitting up.

"I don't really remember her very well. But everyone says I look just like her. And my father says she was a great witch."

"How did she die?"

Olivia shrugged as well as she could in the position she was in. "Well, I don't really know. I think she was murdered. She and her sister both 'mysteriously died' and it was within a week of each other, whatever that means, 'mysteriously died'. And then we moved. My dad doesn't like to talk about it, as if saying anything about it would kill us all."

Remus frowned. "That's very odd."

They simply nodded together, and Olivia lay back down and they continued to stare at the sky.

"I get sick a lot."

Olivia nodded. She had already figured out this much for herself.

"I'll tell you why if you promise not to tell anyone."

She sat bolt upright at this, curious.

"I mean don't even tell James or Sirius or Peter, no one."

She frowned. What on earth could be that bad? And if it was so bad, why was he telling her? But she nodded, and the leaned in close to each other so he could whisper without the others hearing.

"I'm a werewolf."

She pulled away on instinct and gave him what must have looked like a fearful expression, but she was far more shocked than afraid. Still, he looked very sad when she pulled away, as though it was exactly the sort of reaction he himself had feared.

"I probably shouldn't have told you. You won't tell anyone, will you? Professor Dumbledore removes me from the students during the full moon so that I'm not a danger to anybody. I was bit when a few years ago, but my dad won't tell me what happened. Sort of like your dad and your mom, like it will hurt me more to know, or something."

Olivia nodded, sort of understanding, but mostly feeling intense pity for this friend of hers. She understood how difficult this would make the rest of his life. Werewolves were dangerous, and therefore shunned and avoided by society, even in the times when they were in human form. Nobody wanted to get too close to something that once a month gained the ability and proclivity to eat you. Therefore most werewolves lived in solitude, or sometimes in packs, and they rarely married, and never had children. Nobody knew if the condition could be passed to a child. And there was no cure, no treatment, for the condition. Every month, they made an excruciating transformation that turned them into a monster.

Every full moon, Remus became a beast, but the rest of the year he was just a sweet, intelligent, sickly boy. Olivia quietly promised not to tell anyone, even Sirius and James, and they went back to staring quietly at the sky.

They could hear a growing sound of disturbance down by the lake. James and Sirius grew silent, the words they spoke still hanging unfinished on the air. Olivia and Remus sat up, and all five of the gang looked down to see what was happening by the lake.

The previously encountered gang of Slytherin students was gathered around a small boy, whom they knew as Stebbins, a Hufflepuff in their year. From their distance, they couldn't really see what was happening, but groups scattered around the lake were beginning to inch closer, increasingly curious as to the confrontation.

Olivia, James, and Sirius all jumped to their feet, rushing down the hill toward the lake, where the action was. The other two followed behind, more slowly. As they grew nearer, they could see Rabastan Lestrange and Jack Avery jabbing their wands in Stebbins's direction and laughing darkly, while Stebbins attempted to dodge each hex, jinx and curse. He did not know enough magic to block them or defend himself, so he merely scampered about within the circle of boys who were tormenting him, looking wildly around for an escape, with the occasional squeal as he changed direction. Thankfully, he was a quick one, so they were having a hard time hitting him, but they really didn't seem to mind. They just enjoyed watching him scramble about in fear.

Lily and Mary were approaching the chaos, as well as the Sitzer twins. Lily was clearly enraged and was about to attempt to put a stop to the spectacle, but Olivia realized in that moment how awfully that might transpire, if she should try. After all, Snape was her best friend, and it could put them at odds. He wasn't throwing the curses, but he was standing there, as peers to the ones who were. What if they turned their wands on Lily? The possibilities associated with that thought were numerous, and few were particularly pleasant.

So before Lily could act, Olivia did. She marched right into the center of the circle around Stebbins, much to the horror of her comrades. They tried to push in after her, but were body blocked by the Slytherin gang, several of whom seemed particularly interested in the prospect of throwing a curse or two at her. Olivia looked around at them fiercely, and actually saw the face of Eva, her would-be twin.

"Seven on one? Really? How pathetically cowardly are you? At least make it a fair fight. Why don't you let my friends in here and we can really go at it." The conviction in her voice surprised even her. Maybe James and Sirius would know something, but Remus wouldn't be interested in a fight, and Peter would be nearly as worthless as Stebbins. Still, the looks on their faces clearly said they weren't interested in even a close to fair fight.

Nobody moved. They stared at her, wands raised as though about to cast a spell. She didn't know how to block them either, and in actuality could do little more than send sparks at them. She could try to light them on fire, since she knew a little flame spell, but it was incredibly weak. Snape snarled at her.

"Too scared to fight without your little friends?"

She whirled around to face him, turning her back to Rabastan, who seemed to be the leader. "What about you, Snivellus? Are you prepared to duel, one-on-one?"

She knew Lily would not be pleased, but it would be nothing compared with the pure hatred Snape was fixing her with now.

"A duel?" His lips curled into a devilish grin. "Any time you'd like."

"I'm his second," declared Eva, who was giving Olivia a look that held both disdain and curiosity. Olivia suspected that she knew more about their likeness than Olivia.

"I'm Olivia's second!"

They all turned to look, and saw Sirius, trying to push his way into the circle furiously.

James frowned. "Hang on, why do you get to be her second?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Because I said it first."

And that was the sort of logic no eleven-year-old boy could argue with, particularly James Potter.

Snape's cruel smile deepened. It probably wouldn't have mattered whether James or Sirius was second to him. This was his chance at two of the three people he despised most at Hogwarts. They moved toward a clearing, giving the duelers some space, because now the crowd had swelled to mammoth proportions. Sirius got up close to Olivia and whispered in her ear, "You can't win this; he knows a lot of curses."

Olivia knew he was right. Snape's reputation preceded him. He had come to Hogwarts knowing more curses than most N.E.W.T. students, and didn't seem to be particularly worried about using them. Olivia, like most students, knew what was in the spellbooks they used in class and that was about it.

She shrugged as nonchalantly as possible and whispered back, "At least Stebbins isn't being obliterated. This is fairer, even if it's not totally fair."

Yet when she took her stance across from Snape and his sneering, greasy face, Olivia wished she had not suggested the idea at all, and part of her wished she had left Lily to deal with this friend of hers, or maybe even left Stebbins to deal with his own problems, though she knew that was selfish. She looked over at the spectators where James was grinning forcedly and gave her two thumbs up and Remus looked as though he was going to be sick. Peter and Stebbins were white as sheets, as though all the blood in their bodies had left for as long as the duel would last.

She knew a bit about dueling from the books that Drizza read her. They faced each other, and bowed, but this was more of a head jerk than a full bow, as neither seemed willing to fully take their eyes off the other, even for a second. There was little honor in this duel, and no trust. Effectively, Olivia realized as she lifted her head, there were no rules.

They raised their wands and before she could say a word, Snape muttered something and made a slashing movement from left to right. Before she could respond or try to dodge whatever he had sent her way, she fell to her knees, her whole body in agonizing pain. She could feel or notice nothing else. She had a sense that she might be screaming, but wasn't really paying attention.

The crowd was gasping, some people were crying, others were mingling their screams with hers. James and Sirius ran forward, and Sirius tried to calm her down, but couldn't. James turned to Snape, wand raised, but before either of them could do anything, Professor McGonagall was striding over, and all she saw was James with his wand raised at Severus Snape. Those around scattered quickly, so as not to be accused of participating in this obvious breach of rules.

McGonagall sent Remus for Madam Pomfrey to fix whatever was wrong with Olivia, and then rounded on James and Sirius.

"What exactly is the meaning of all this?"

Before either of them could tell her what was really going on, Eva slid in.

"Please, professor, what happened was that James attempted to curse Severus, but somehow, when Severus blocked it, the curse hit Olivia by accident. She was just an innocent bystander."

Sirius stared at this girl. Olivia was still screaming in pain on the ground, and therefore couldn't refute this claim.

"Professor, actually, there was a gang of Slytherins and Olivia was trying to protect another student so she and Snape–"

"Just a moment, now, Mr. Black. Mr. Snape, is Miss Morecomb telling the truth?"

Snape put on his absolute most dejected face and nodded slowly. McGonagall rounded on James.

"Explain yourself."

James was so dumbfounded he didn't know what to say. He just shook his head. "I wasn't even involved, Professor, I swear."

She looked at his still outstretched wand arm and frowned. "Somehow, I doubt that. Mr. Black, can you explain yourself?"

He could see that the truth wouldn't keep them out of trouble this time.

"Professor there was a duel planned, and I was involved, as was Olivia."

James looked at him with shock. Well, it was the truth. At least this way, they could all be in trouble together. Would she be mad, or would she be happy to spend time with them in the impending detention?

"I see. I think that the condition of your friend impresses on you sufficiently the seriousness of the matter. However," she said, when their faces looked hopeful, "you will still serve detention for your foolish and irresponsible behavior. Ten points each from Gryffindor. I will be contacting you later about your detention, once Miss Cromwell is feeling well enough."

The hopeful smiles disappeared instantly. Madam Pomfrey arrived seconds later and had the boys carry their friend to the hospital wing, which was harder than they would have thought, since she was still writhing and screaming, and there they placed her on a bed. Madam Pomfrey spent hours with the boys at her side, trying everything she could think of, but nothing was helping, and Olivia's voice was growing weaker every hour from the constant screaming.

After a while, Madam Pomfrey had to leave to gather a student from the dungeons, who was apparently vomiting something deep purple. James turned to Sirius.

"Want me to go nick some food? I've got my cloak on me, and I bet you're as starved as I am." Sirius nodded slightly and James took off out the door, throwing the cloak on as he went.

Time seemed to pass even slower without James with him. Sirius stared at Olivia's writing, screaming body. Her eyes were still closed. He couldn't imagine the pain she must be in. He realized there was something in his eye and turned his head to try and fish it out as the door opened again. Expecting James, he was surprised to see a timid looking Eva.

She walked up to the bed and looked down at her near-twin, who was not any better. She winced. "Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix her, then?"

Sirius shook his head.

Eva looked up at him and tilted her head, considering him for a moment. Sirius was secretly worried that she could tell there had been something in his eye, but fought the urge to try and fish it out again, in case she misread the action and thought he had been crying. Girls always assumed you'd been crying. Instead of mentioning his eyes, she turned to Olivia and knelt next to her on the other side of the bed, holding her wand to Olivia's next and muttering something Sirius couldn't hear.

When she stood again, Olivia had started to calm down. The screams had faded and she was now breathing heavily, eyes still closed tight, her body no longer writhing but merely tense. Eva looked across the bed at Sirius.

"If you mention this to a soul, you'll wish I'd done you like Snape did her. I wasn't here. Got it?"

Sirius stared at her, stunned, and nodded. As she turned to go, he stood up. "Wait."

She turned and looked at him, her expression not one he recognized. "Why do you to look so much alike?"

Eva smiled sadly. "She's my cousin. Our mothers were sisters. I guess nobody told her. We hadn't seen each other since before our mothers died." She shook her head. "Goodnight." She turned away and scurried out the door, careful not to be seen.

Sirius frowned. Why hadn't she known they were cousins? Why wouldn't her father have told her? He sat back down and began to stroke Olivia's hair.

Her eyes shot open and she looked up into his, fearful and pained. She was sweating and shaking, her breathing strange and sporadic.

"Sirius," she implored, grabbing his free hand in both of hers. "What happened?"

He shrugged, feeling that something poking back into his eye, but not daring to try to fix it in front of her. "Snape hit you with something awful. Nobody knows what it was. You, me and James have got detention when Madam Pomfrey says you're well enough. Sorry for that. Eva's your cousin. She mentioned it to me. Don't ask why we were talking. It's too weird of a story. Anyway, you're getting better, but you still look awful."

She frowned at this.

"I mean, not that you look awful," he sort of blushed. "I just mean that you look like someone's tried to kill you or something."

She groaned and tried to sit up, but fell back from the pain. "I feel like someone's just tried to kill me."

Sirius continued to absentmindedly stroke her hair. James came back in, whipping the cloak off himself, Remus, Peter and a large plate of food.

"Ah, doctor Black! I see our patient has improved. And I daresay she's hungry?"

She gave a weak smile and an even weaker nod and Remus and Sirius took turns ripping her sandwich into little bits and stuffing them in her mouth, since she couldn't lift her arms. James pondered allowed about the possible detentions they might be given and how much he wished they could go running with the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest.

He paused, partway through a wildly fantasized detention description and looked over at Olivia. "Why did Morecomb try to pain Olivia as an innocent bystander, anyway? Just 'cause they're twinners?" Before anyone could answer, he gasped. "Livia, are you secret copies of someone sent to take over Hogwarts and turn us into an army of youth fighters?"

What normally would have brought a laugh, or even a chuckle, produced a light wheeze and a weak smile.

"Apparently we're cousins, as Sirius mysteriously learned while I was unconscious."

James frowned. "Is it fair to call you unconscious if you were screaming your bloody lungs out?"

Remus nodded. "You can scream through dreams, when you're not conscious, so you can scream while you're unconscious. It's perfectly logical."

James shrugged, apparently disappointed that this made some weird theory about her being part banshee. Sirius laughed at the look on his face.

"You actually look sad, Potter! Ah, well, Livia, I guess I'm not the only one with nutters in my family. Say, Remus, have you secretly got a vampire for a dad or something?" His grin was innocent as the question, just looking for things to make Olivia feel better, but instead Remus frowned and squirmed in his seat and Olivia flinched, her leg twitching toward Sirius. She was probably trying to kick him, but didn't have the strength.

Peter squeaked in surprise and James gasped, falling back on his stool and smacking the ground pretty hard when he landed. Sirius laughed.

"Merlin's beard, Remus, is your dad really a vampire?"

Olivia frowned, annoyed. "Of course he's not, you idiot."

Remus gave her a glad look, and shook his head. "He's not. But there's something I need to tell you guys."

Sirius sat forward on his stool, resting his head on his fists and his elbows on Olivia's bed, having to shift them a bit because when he first put them on her leg she howled in pain. Peter's whole body tensed and James, still on the ground, propped his head on the stool, looking a bit silly.

"We're all ears, mate."

Just as Remus was about to respond to this awkward situation, Madam Pomfrey walked in a Remus hissed at them, "tonight. Let's come back under the cloak tonight, when she's asleep." The three boys looked disappointed, but they were so curious that they agreed. It was good, because at this point Madam Pomfrey screeched at them that Olivia needed rest, not to be pestered by a bunch of rowdy boys. She looked especially at James, who scrambled up off the ground and the four of them bolted out of the hospital wing, waving goodbye to their weak friend as they left.

Olivia slept well into the night, exhausted completely from the ordeal. As she slept, she had nightmares of Snape and Eva, her cousin, poking at her with their wands, making her dance in pain, and them laughing. There would be a flash of light and Sirius would be there with her, also dancing around in pain. The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her awake.

"Yo, Livia, are you alright?" Sirius was looking down at her, worried, as the others pulled up stools around her bed.

She nodded sadly. "I'm fine, why?"

"You were muttering and moaning in your sleep."

She frowned. Had she really moaned in her sleep? "No, I'm fine. A bit of a bad dream, but it's nothing, really." She pushed herself up on her pillows, still weak, but much better than she had been.

"All right, Remus, hurry up and tell us about your big secret or I'm going to burst. I've been thinking of wonderful secrets all day and I'm dying to know if I guessed right."

Olivia seriously doubted that James could have guessed right. He probably thought that Remus had a hag for a mother and a troll for a father or some such nonsense, or that Remus was the reincarnation of the son of the giant squid. James loved pulling the giant squid into things.

Remus shook with nerves, but Olivia took his hand in hers comfortingly, knowing what he must be feeling, terrified that once they knew they would leave him, not wanting to be his friend anymore.

He gave her a weak smile. "I… I think you all ought to know that I'm… that I'm not exactly… not exactly human."

James clapped and whooped and Sirius grinned, while Peter looked a bit frightened. Olivia shushed them sternly, not wanting to wake or alert anyone.

"That's brilliant! Hurry up and tell us anything before James tries to say that you're a reincarnation of the son of the giant squid or something."

Olivia smiled at Sirius. Had James actually used that one before, or had they just both spontaneously thought of it?

"Well, I'm a… well… there was nothing anyone could do…."

Olivia groaned. He was too scared to say.

"Remus is a werewolf."

He gave her a grateful smile, instead of the angry look she had been expecting. Now James was thrilled.

"No. Way. A werewolf! That's all kinds of awesome! Is that where you are when you're sick? Transforming?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, every full moon day, they take me through a passage in the Whomping Willow to spend the night in a shack in Hogsmeade so I don't hurt anyone when I transform. It's awfully painful, and lonely, but it's good that I can't hurt anyone."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Not the _Shrieking_ Shack? So it's not really haunted?"

Remus shook his head. "No, that's just me in there, transforming and making all kinds of noise."

Olivia laughed. "That's so cool. So that solves the mystery of the Whomping Willow. They put it in there to hide you once a month. That's too bad, I was really hoping for a secret treasure being hidden in the trunk."

James gapped at her. "Um, _hello_? Secret passageway to _Hogsmeade_? That's _totally_ a secret treasure."

They all laughed.

Remus sighed with relief. "So you all still want to be my friend?"

Sirius and James gasped.

"Are you _kidding_? This just made you even _cooler_! I wish we could hang out with you in the Shack, though."

They sat in silence for a minute. Olivia pondered the possibility of that. The adventures they could have. But there was one problem: werewolves were extremely dangerous around humans, and were out of their right minds during the full moon. There was no way. Unless…

"Maybe we could."

Remus, James and Sirius looked at her, shocked.

"Um," said Sirius, "are you sure that curse didn't addle your brains at all? Werewolves and humans…"

"I know that, but werewolves aren't at all dangerous to animals, are they, Remus?" He shook his head. "They're not even a danger to them. In fact, werewolves can have a monthly companionship with animals."

James was still not getting it.

"There's just one little problem, Livia. We're not animals. We're humans."

"Animagi," muttered Sirius, considering her.

"_What?_ You can't be serious. Animagi?"

Olivia shrugged. "It'll take time to learn, of course. It's very advanced Transfiguration, but I'm certain it would be safe. Who knows, maybe we could really help Remus out with this, help the time transformed be more fun, and less agonizing and stuff."

James shook his head. "Wow. It would be brilliant. But the problem is… How are we going to learn that? McGonagall won't teach us. It's not legal."

"Then we just won't tell her, then, won't we? Don't worry, James, we'll figure it out. Let's all promise to work as hard as we can on this, okay?"

Sirius nodded. "I promise."

James hesitated, but only a moment. "Okay, I promise, too."

Peter muttered his promise, and Remus just stared at us, tears filling his eyes.

"I can't even tell you all," he whispered, "how much the means to me."

Olivia smiled. "You don't have to."


	6. Standing Out in a Crowd

**September/October 1971**

Two afternoons later, Olivia was able to hobble out of the hospital, and Sirius and Peter went to pick her up. James and Remus were in the library, trying to find something on Animagi. Olivia gathered up all her homework she had been doing in the hospital wing and felt that there was someone behind her, but she pretended not to notice. To hands wrapped around her head and covered her eyes.

"Oh, wow, Sirius how original. Going to ask if I know who you are?"

The hands dropped and she turned around and smiled at him, looking at his dejected little face, which she figured was an act. He grabbed her bag and supported her down the stairs out of the hospital wing. Peter simply trailed behind.

"Are we meeting them in the library?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nah, there's only a little bit of time before that silly dinner party, so they said I should probably take you back to get ready, if you feel up to going."

Olivia smacked her forehead with her free hand.

"Damn, I forgot all about that! Yeah, sounds good. Are they ready already?"

He laughed. "Are you kidding? Of course they're not, but it'll take them about ten seconds. You'll take longer since you're still not well. And we'll take some time getting you down to the dungeons, of course."

She sighed. "What, are you guys going to take turns carrying me everywhere?"

He laughed again, and whispered, so that Peter couldn't here, "Now, do you think I'd let anyone else take the honor?"

She smacked him with her free hand, but he paused because the effort had caused her to stumble. As she protested, he tossed her bag back to Peter, who nearly missed catching it, and then Sirius swept her up into his arms. She was screaming at him to put her down, and truthfully, he wasn't incredibly strong. He was still just a boy. So instead of looking heroic and chivalrous, like he must have intended, he looked silly, swaying back and forth across the corridors trying not to drop her.

They were about a floor away from Gryffindor Tower when they ran into Professor McGonagall, almost literally.

She frowned at them, probably wondering what to make of the odd situation.

"Miss Cromwell, I see you're recovering."

"Yes, Professor, a little bit at a time."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Mr. Black, why are you carrying Miss Cromwell? I seem to see that she has legs."

He grinned that silly, mischievous grin of his and replied, "Well, you see, Professor, she's still a bit shaky on them, so I thought this might work better, be a bit quicker and all that." Olivia snorted, but he ignored her. They had actually been moving slower since he had picked her up.

"I see, Mr. Black. Be careful that you don't re-injure Miss Cromwell. Doing so would not put off detention; I would simply come up with one she could do in the hospital wing. You have one week for her to fully recover, which I believe Madam Pomfrey said would be sufficient, and then I will be informing you of your proscribed punishment. Until that time, Miss Cromwell, I wish you a speedy recovery, and hope that nothing hinders it." Her eyes were fixed on Sirius as she spoke the last few words.

As she walked away, Olivia and Sirius laughed so hard that Olivia was sure he would drop her, but somehow he managed to get her into the common room and onto the Gryffindor couch before passing out next to her on the couch, feigning a serious bought of exhaustion. She looked over at him, wondering if he was going to help her to her dormitory or not. Peter handed her bag to Mary MacDonald, who carried it upstairs, watching Sirius and Olivia on the couch as she disappeared up the stairs and nearly running right over Lily.

Olivia held up her finger feebly to her lips as Lily approached and sat up closer to Sirius. Yes, there was a heartbeat, he was alive. She sat up perfectly straight, leaning over him carefully, positioning herself to beginning tickling him as madly as possible with her current state, but just as she was ready to pounce, his eyes shot open and he grabbed her by the waist, throwing her down on the couch and tickling her instead. He laughed manically and she screamed, more of glee than of fear.

"It's not fair!" she squealed, her voice scratchy from the overuse it had received. "I'm still sick! I'm injured! I'm not even well enough for detention! Let me up! Please! Please! Sirius, you're going to kill me!" With this, he relinquished and helped her sit up.

"Oh, close to death, are you?" he raised an eyebrow interested. "Too ill for detention, you say? Well, then I suppose you're not well enough for parties. Straight to bed for you, Miss Cromwell! That is, unless you feel well enough for homework."

She laughed as Lily helped her off the couch. "I'll have her down in an hour, which should give you plenty of time to tickle her again before the party."

Sirius waved goodbye happily and Olivia waved weakly back. Lily guided her up the stairs, which was more difficult than the initial journey out of the hospital wing had been, probably because she had really just exerted herself quite a bit in trying to resist the tickling onslaught. She got to her bed and fell back on it, closing her eyes as her friends rummaged around in her things for something for her to wear.

"Ah, it's so good to be back to real life. You have no idea how awful the hospital wing is. Well," she frowned as she sat up gingerly, "it's not all that bad, I suppose, but it doesn't smell like home."

Mary laughed and held up a maroon dress that Olivia crinkled her nose at and shook her head disapprovingly. "Doesn't smell like home, eh? What does home smell like?"

Olivia tilted her head to the side, considering the scarlet chiffon gown Lily was holding up and the question at the same time. She shook her head and sniffed the air. "Like… like… like vanilla and roses and cherries." She smiled and pulled her feet onto the bed, holding her knees under her chin. "Like James's silly cologne and Sirius's hair and Remus's books and… and… chocolate!" She was grinning even wider now. "Like chocolate and ink and stuffy four-poster beds!"

The other girls laughed, holding up dress after dress, and Olivia shook her head at each.

Lily frowned. "How many dresses have you got in here, anyway?"

Olivia shrugged. "I wasn't sure what to take, so I just packed everything. My dad put an Undetectable Extension Charm on my trunk so that we could fit pretty much everything in my closet in it."

Mary laughed.

"Pretty much? What on earth did you leave behind?"

"Well, this awful bathrobe my father got me last Christmas and a few sweaters I felt were the worst." She crinkled her nose again. "I hate sweaters. Whoever decided to invent something so horrible itchy and call it a wonderful idea for a Christmas present?"

Just then, Lily held up the absolute last dress in the trunk, a deep purple satin gown with emerald embroidery of roses along the hem. Olivia's eyes widened as she took in the dress. She hadn't worn it before; it had been her mother's when she was young. It had never fit Olivia before, but it was now the same size as all her other things so she had packed it, just in case. She nodded and breathed, "Yes. That's it, that's the one."

Lily helped her get dressed and Mary dug through the trunk for shoes that matched. They didn't have to worry about hair because Olivia's hair always fell perfectly straight, exactly as she wanted it to. She had never had to mess with it a day in her life, except comb it about once a month and wash it, of course. She was still at that blessed age where make-up was not necessary. As soon as they finished with her, Mary helped Lily slip into a deep brown dress that was simple, but elegant, and they put her hair into an elegant bun with tendrils hanging out to frame her face. She looked; well, adorable was probably the best word.

Dressed in their dinner best, Lily supported the stairs to the common room, which were much easier to tackle this time around, and handed her over to Sirius, who was waiting at the bottom, looking nervous.

"You're late, Evans," he growled.

The girls frowned, looking at each other. "Really?" they said.

James laughed from the couch.

"Yeah, you're late by about two minutes. He was going up after you if you weren't going to come down in about thirty seconds."

Sirius blushed and muttered something, but held out his arm to Olivia, which she gladly took, happy that he wasn't going to try to carry her all the way down to the dungeons. They waved goodbye to Peter, who was sitting by the fireplace, working on his essay for Charms. He waved back and Lily hurried out of the portrait hole ahead of them, not wanting to be associated with their clique.

As soon as they stepped into the hallway, they ran right into Lonnie and Robbie, who gapped at them rather strangely as they were going past. James held back a bit.

"Hiya boys! Jealous? See, we got invited to this dinner party because we're pretty much brilliant where there will be dashing ladies all dressed up like our lovely Miss Cromwell and we don't have to be stuck with talentless prats like you setting everything on fire for at least an hour."

Lily, who had paused to talk with the Sitzer girls as one of them was adjusting her shoe, shot a dangerous glare at James. It wasn't necessary. Olivia smacked him in the back of the head.

"C'mon James, leave them alone. We're going to be late." She turned back to smile at the poor victims. "See you tomorrow in Charms, guys! Have a great night!"

She couldn't tell if they were more surprised that she had been nice to them, or that she had stopped James from being mean to them, but Lily gave her a little smile and she smiled weakly back. Her legs were getting weak already, but she didn't want Sirius to notice and try to carry her down eight flights of stairs, so she simply gritted her teeth and distracted conversation away from her condition.

"Why do you pick on them, anyway, James?"

He shrugged. "Because, they're not real Gryffindors. They're not brave or daring or chivalrous or anything like that. They're a disgrace."

She sighed and Sirius tightened his grip on her, probably thinking that it was a sign of physical weakness rather than emotional frustration. "James, please just leave them alone. Some people are quieter, like Peter, and they show those things in different ways. The Sorting Hat never lies, like my dad always used to say. They're nice boys."

"Oh, yeah, no question about it, but I still think they ought to be Hufflepuff."

She groaned. She thought Peter belonged in Hufflepuff too, but for some reason the Sorting Hat had chosen to put him in Gryffindor instead. Was he not loyal enough or something? He didn't seem to be the un-loyal type, but then, those Hufflepuffs were a bit over-loyal at times.

At the last flight of stairs, Olivia paused, gripping the banister as tightly as she could muster. She felt dizzy, like she was about to fall face first down the stairs. Sirius stopped and held her firmly in place with both hands. The other boys stopped as well, worried.

"Are you okay, Livia?"

She looked into his eyes, wanting so badly to say that everything was fine, make up some lie about remembering something, but if she actually did fall, she would never forgive herself. He looked really scared. Up until that point she hadn't let herself imagine the kind of horror her friends must have felt watching her suffer like that, but she could see the fear in his eyes now and couldn't bring herself to lie to him.

"Um, could you walk in front of me, just in case?"

He hesitated, not because he didn't want to help her, but he also didn't seem to want to take his eyes off her. He turned to face her fully and stood on the step two down from her. Remus could tell what was wrong and cleared his throat before Sirius attempted to walk down the stone steps backwards.

"Sirius, that's a bad idea. If you fall, she'll fall two and then both of you will be injured. You face forward, I'll walk next to her to keep an eye and alert you if she's about to fall."

Sirius frowned, but went with the plan. In a few minutes, they were down the stairs and Sirius took his place beside her again, helping her to the table, placing her next to Jiki Sitzer, and then sitting next to her himself.

Olivia smiled feebly up at Professor Slughorn, who was at the head of the table. "Good evening, Professor. I'm so sorry we're late. It took a little longer to travel through the castle than we had anticipated."

He looked at her sadly, no doubt hearing about the attempted duel, or at least whatever story had been told to the teachers to circulate.

"Not a problem at all, my dear, just glad to see that you're all right and recovering. You gave us teachers quite a turn, I must say! Having that empty space in my class this morning was exceptionally disconcerting, but I'm glad to see you're better and able to attend."

She smiled her sweetest smile, and Sirius grinned across the table at Snape and Eva, who looked a bit put out that she was attending. They spent dinner eating, of course, and it was exceptionally delicious food, and then Professor Slughorn talked with them each in turn about their families. Some didn't really reply, and others talked for what seemed like weeks. When he reached Olivia, he smiled deeply and openly.

"And your parents, of course, I taught them both. They were remarkable students, both of them. Your father went on to be especially successful, with that wonderful position at the Ministry! Tell me, do you see the Minister often?"

Olivia shook her head. "Not often, sir. I see him maybe once a year, when he comes by our house for dinner. Father doesn't like us visiting London often, sir." She blushed at this, trying to ignore all the looks she was getting from the various people sitting at the table. Some were staring at her with curiosity, some with outright shock.

Professor Slughorn's smile turned sad. "Ah, yes, well I can guess why. No need to dwell on that, dear."

He had been referring, of course, to her mother's murder, which she actually didn't know much about, so dwelling on it would have been difficult. Sirius and Remus were two of those who dodged questions about their families pretty well, but James and Slughorn had some jolly chats about his parents, who were apparently two of the most well-connected people in the wizarding world.

Dinner dragged on like that, not especially fun, and sometimes especially awful, when the older Slytherins would sit there and drone on about the connectedness of their families, but eventually, it was over, and the Olivia couldn't wait to leave.

Jiki Sitzer helped her out of her chair and Sirius took her from Jiki, with a concerned look in his eyes. Olivia nearly groaned at that look, annoyed with the way he was treating her, like if he took his hand and eyes off her for five minutes she would fall over and die. He hadn't held her arm during the dinner party, but he had looked over at her every minute to make sure she was still breathing and still able to lift her fork.

Helping her back up to the common room wasn't so hard, as having Remus behind her and Sirius at her side wasn't a problem. When they got back, Sirius Remus politely asked some third year girls if they could please have the couch for their friend, who wasn't well. The girls took a look at Olivia, and must have known something of what happened for they moved and went to a corner to watch her and whisper.

Sirius had her lay down on the couch and he sat at the other end, at her feet. James and Remus sat on the ground in front of the couch and Peter scrambled over to join them. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Well?" said James. "How stupid was that party?" He had a bit of a grin on his face.

Sirius grinned back. "Load of tosh, it was. I won't be going back if he invites me again. I don't care if I have to fake a case of spattergroit, I'll not be going."

They laughed. Olivia shrugged. "I'll probably go back, if he asks me."

They whipped around to look at her, stunned.

"Why?" said James.

"Well, I don't know. It's sort of fun, dressing up, sitting at a nice table with good food."

"Yeah, but you can do that at Christmas."

She groaned. "_No!_ I don't want to wear a fancy sweater. Besides, apparently he throws a big Christmas party for the Slug Club." She looked over a Lily and Mary, who were probably also discussing the party. "Besides, I think Evans and the Sitzers are going back, so I'd like to spend more time with them. I see you guys all the time."

They laughed. They had probably forgotten that she was even a girl, she spent so much time with them, joining in on all their pranks and such. However, if she had looked over at the eyes of Sirius Black, she might have realized that at least one person sitting next to her had not forgotten she was a girl. The dress may have been a bit of a reminder, but he hadn't forgotten and wouldn't forget any time soon.

That night, as Olivia lay awake in bed, she could think of nothing except how difficult tomorrow would be. Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions, all without being able to get around properly on her own. She wondered how long it would take to really be able to be her old self again, chasing the boys through the halls, running around the grass and hills, carrying James on her back in the lake when they all swam, trying to beat Sirius and Remus at a water fight. They usually won since Remus was too sickly to pick up Sirius and James was incredibly strong. They had tried every combination of the four of them possible, but nothing had worked out to be fair, since Olivia wasn't quick enough to bring down James or Sirius, but she was certainly strong enough to lift any of them.

A small voice broke her train of thought, her wishing to be well soon.

"Livia?"

"Yeah, Lily?"

"Thanks for sticking up for Stebbins."

There was a pause. Olivia hadn't really thought about how she had been injured in a while.

"It was the right thing to do. That many people trying to take on one kid isn't a fair fight at all."

There was another pause.

"I'm sorry he hurt you. I yelled at him for about three hours after they took you to the hospital wing."

"It's okay. I'll be fine. It gave me an excuse to lie in a bed for two days. That can't be all bad."

She didn't want to say to Lily how truly angry she was at Severus, and how she couldn't understand why those two were friends. Using dark magic on somebody at school was just completely wrong. It wasn't even supposed to be a proper duel, seeing as they were only children. But she didn't say a word. Lily seemed very upset and now wasn't the time to make it worse.

"Still, I'm sorry."

And with that, they rolled over at the same time and fell fast asleep.

/-/

The next morning, Lily and Mary helped Olivia dress for classes and Mary walked her down to the common room, where they found Sirius sleeping on the couch. Olivia wondered if he had been there all night, but when she woke him up and asked, he wouldn't answer, simply groggily walked her down to the Great Hall, carrying her books and his.

By the time they had gotten to the table to eat, Remus, James and Peter had caught up and they were chattering about Quidditch. Olivia would have piled a few sausages and fried potatoes on her plate, and indeed was reaching to do so, when Sirius quickly did it for her. She frowned at him, but he didn't meet her gaze. So she was a little weak and couldn't walk without a bit of help. How did that suddenly translate to her needing to be spoon-fed breakfast?

Thankfully, he did not spoon-feed her breakfast, but simply served it for her, and actually buttered half her toast before she yanked it out of his hands and finished buttering it herself. She couldn't imagine what could be wrong with him, but she supposed that maybe he felt guilty that he hadn't stopped Snape, or insisted on dueling the loser himself, some sort of weird chivalrous thing like that.

The day passed by with little to note, except the stares she got in the corridors, and the whispers in classes when she walked in, usually just barely making it on time, with Sirius carrying her books and supporting her weight. After dinner, before heading up to the common room to do their homework, Olivia finally talked Sirius into walking her outside for a bit of fresh air. It had taken a bit of whining ("But _Sirius_, I haven't been outside all _day_! I _need_ fresh air for _healing_! _Please_…."), and even more begging, but she finally convinced him and so the five of them went outside into the cool evening air for a short while.

"So," she asked the boys, "what are we going to do tomorrow?"

Unfortunately, the response was that they would be sitting in the library; searching every book they could get their hands on for information on how one becomes an Animagus. Olivia hid her disappointment, since she knew they were doing this for two very good reasons: they wanted to figure it out quickly for Remus's sake, and they knew she wouldn't be up to much else. Still, she wanted to frolic around the castle, pulling pranks and getting back those Slytherins for how they attacked her. She wanted to go on grand adventures and explore the castle in the middle of the night under James's cloak. She wanted to do all the things they had talked about before the duel happened and she lost all her strength. It just wasn't fair.

They weren't outside long before it started to get darker and Sirius insisted that they get her back up to Gryffindor Tower. So he lifted her off the ground and began helping her up the seven flights of stairs and eventually into the portrait hole, where Remus again asked the current occupiers of the couch if they might have it for their ailing friend, and this time it was occupied by a couple Prefects who were happy to oblige and simply moved to the a couple of empty armchairs.

Sirius helped Olivia onto the couch again, and Olivia found herself hoping her recovery would fly by, because she was incredibly annoyed with being helped with everything she did.

Unfortunately, the week went by painfully slow. Finally, it had been a week from her release from the hospital wing and Olivia, James and Sirius received letters that morning from Professor McGonagall by post.

Sirius read his and slammed it down on the table.

"It doesn't say what we're doing, just that we should meet in her office at eleven tonight."

James grinned. "Hey, it's an excuse to stay up late."

Olivia smacked him in the back of the head. "Get a clue, James, we're not staying up late and jaunting around the castle, we're staying up late to be punished."

"So?"

"So, one's fun, the other is probably going to be very far from fun."

Olivia, of course, was right.

Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk when they arrived, reading over the essays they had just turned in on the finer points of Switching Spells. She looked up at them as they walked in and they received, of course, her most stern stare.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Cromwell, Mr. Black. Please, sit. Today, I'll have you copy some files for me. They're old detention files. Perhaps you'll find them illuminating."

After an hour and a half of coping, Olivia realized that these files may have the opposite effect from what Professor McGonagall had hoped. Rather than making them scared of detention, it simply gave them more ideas for pranks and adventures, going back all the way to the turn of the century. As they walked back, they discussed the better ones each had found, including swelling someone's head to the size of a large pumpkin. That was a particularly good one that Sirius had found and they were just itching to try it out on someone.

/-/

The weeks flew by and suddenly, it was late October. Olivia woke up one Saturday morning with Lily and Mary jumping up and down on her bed. She groaned loudly.

"Guys, it's Saturday morning. What in the name of Merlin's beard are you doing?"

Mary hopped off the bed and onto her own in one leap, while Lily kept bouncing on Olivia's bed.

"It's your birthday, silly!" giggled Mary. "Happy twelfth birthday!"

She smacked herself in the forehead. Her birthday, of course, how could she have forgotten? She sat up and Lily and Mary ceased their bouncing, digging in their trunks, emerging at nearly the same moment, each with a carefully wrapped parcel in hand.

Mary was still a bit bouncy and shoved her parcel in Olivia's face. "Mine first! Open mine!"

Olivia laughed and obliged, ripping off the wrapping paper with wild abandon. Inside was a set of charmed earrings that twinkled like stars. "Oh, wow, Mary, they're beautiful!"

Mary giggled. "I know, right? I saw them and thought they'd look so pretty in your hair, like stars in the dusk sky."

Lily nodded approvingly. "All right, my turn." Olivia unwrapped Lily's parcel with a less wild abandon, and found inside an excellent little book. It was titled _The Manual of Sorcery_, and had a lot of notes references to other texts. She thanked Lily for it, hoping that she could find something in there about how to become an Animagus, but since Lily didn't know of their plot, it would only be off of pure luck.

They left Olivia alone long enough for her to get dressed and go downstairs, but as soon as she reached the common room, James and Sirius attacked her from both sides and carried her to an armchair, where her four best friends surrounded her with presents.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused.

She smirked. "What, no surprises?"

They laughed, and then she realized there might be something of a nasty surprise in one of the gifts and she ought not speak so soon, especially where James was concerned.

James cleared his throat. "We've decided to go in alphabetical order by first name for this birthday, so that for the sake of fairness, we have a system."

She tilted her head. "So that means you're going first?"

He grinned, but Sirius groaned. "Damn it, I didn't think of that when I agreed. Can we do a revote?"

They laughed. "No, Sirius, you'll get to go first when we do reverse alphabetical order by first name and alphabetical order by last name." Sirius mumbled something completely impossible to distinguish, but seemed to take that as reasonably fair.

James then presented Olivia with his sloppily wrapped parcel. "I wrapped it myself."

She grinned. "I can tell." They laughed and James would have probably blushed, but he didn't do that sort of thing, so he just looked a little sheepish.

She didn't even have to use wild abandon on this particular parcel; the wrapping job was so terrible. It was a bit lumpy, but she had no idea what it could be. When she opened it, she found a small package of sweets, a box of homemade fudge, and the basic Zonko's Joke Kit. He muttered that the fudge was from his mother, who wanted to make sure that she got something from the rest of the Potter family.

Peter was next, and he hadn't even bothered to wrap his gift. It was a package of Chocolate Frogs, which they knew she absolutely loved.

Remus had carefully wrapped his gift, which also turned out to be a book. She nearly laughed at how alike he and Lily were sometimes. This one was entitled _Defending Against the Dark Arts_, which was about her favorite subject, of course. Flipping through, she felt that it seemed informative and clear, with excellent illustrations, which had caught Sirius's eye, of course. She was sure that boy never even looked at a book if there weren't pictures.

Lastly, of course, was Sirius, who had also hand-wrapped his gift. It wasn't as neat as Lupin's, but it also happen to bear the markings of having been rewrapped several times, leaving the paper a bit wrinkled, but she pretended not to notice. Inside were some sweets, with a couple of packages of Chocolate Frogs and a Complete Zonko's Jokester Pack for the Advanced Prankster. It was probably as close to perfect as a bunch of first year students could manage to get their hands on.

She hugged them each in thanks and went to her dormitory to store all her new gifts in her trunk. Then, they went down to breakfast, where the Gryffindor first years had a cake ready for her. She gave James a questioning look. "Cake at breakfast? This was your idea, wasn't it?"

He grinned. "What, you don't like it?"

Olivia laughed. "Oh, no, I love it; I just figured this wasn't something Mary or Lily came up with."

They sang her a quick chorus of Happy Birthday and cut the cake, passing around a piece to each first year, and two for Olivia. Then they ate their cake, eggs, sausage and toast in merry moods and Olivia grabbed Sirius and Remus by the arms when she finished eating, since they were the ones sitting on either side of her, and dragged them out of the castle, James and Peter close behind.

They laughed and ran through the rainy weather, jumping into puddles and playing tag around the lake. The rain started coming down even harder and they became aware of other students watching them from the windows of the buildings, so they collapsed in the grass, letting the rain beat down on their faces.

"I want to play Quidditch. I want to be a Chaser like my dad, and win the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor." James took a little pinch of grass he had tugged from the ground and tossed it up in the air.

Sirius grabbed a sprig. "I want to pull of the greatest pranks this school has ever seen; I want to turn Snivellus's hair purple. I want to pass my O.W.L.s and move out of my parents' house." He tossed his sprig into the air and Peter grabbed a handful of grass.

"I want to survive school," he squeaked. "I want to have Professor McGonagall stop picking on me. I want to have friends like you guys until I die." He threw his grass into the air and Olivia and Remus prepared their grass.

"I want to play Quidditch with James. I want to win the house cup for Gryffindor. I want us to be friends forever. I want to be an Animagus!" She tossed her grass and some flew into her face, but she was too lazy to wipe it off.

Remus raised his arm, grass in hand. "I want to live a normal life. I want never lose the friends I've made. I want to find a way to make transformations less awful. I want the world to be a safer, happier place." He tossed his grass into the air and they simply remained, silent on the grass for what seemed like hours. They stared up into the sky, blinking the rain out of their eyes, except for James, who had glasses to protect him from the attacking rainwater.

After they were so cold that they could no longer lie comfortably in the grass, they stood, brushed themselves off the best they could, and skipped back up to the school as happily as they had rushed out of it. They're happiness didn't last long.

The moment they set foot in the entryway of the castle, Argus Filch was on them like stink on a rat. Before any of them could say a word of protest, he shrieked at them: something about "befouling the castle", which seemed to be a very serious charge in his eyes. He found the nearest teacher without much effort: Professor McGonagall. If only it had been Professor Finderbauker, then they would have probably gotten off the hook.

Instead, Professor McGonagall frowned down at them. "I would have thought you three had gotten enough of detention the other night. Very well, detention, all of you. And five points from Gryffindor."

She then cleaned them quickly with her wand so that they didn't track dirt through the castle and they scampered off to Gryffindor Tower. When they got to the tower, they started up a game of Exploding Snap, which James won, because he cheated, and talked about their possible punishments for their morning of fun.

"Maybe we'll have to help the giant squid give birth."

"Ugh, Sirius, that's gross. Besides, as far as anyone can tell there's only one giant squid in there. That would complicate breeding a bit."

Sirius scratched his chin. "Maybe. But we don't know that for sure, that lake is huge! Besides, it had to get in there somehow. It hasn't been there all by its onesome since the founding of the school, after all. They don't live that long."

James looked at them, astonished. "Since when did you two become experts on giant squids?" He stretched his arms. "Besides, I doubt it would be anything that cool. Knowing McGonagall, we'll be stuck copying records again."

Remus shook his head. "I think they'll make the punishment fit the crime. I suspect we'll have to clean something in the castle or tend to something in the grounds."

With a mischievous grin Olivia shook her head wildly. "There's no way they'd let us tend to something on the grounds in this weather, we'd just befoul the castle again!"

They all laughed and set up another game of Exploding Snap, which James won again because he was still cheating, and everyone knew it but nobody cared.

As it turned out, Remus was the closest guesser. They had to polish the many trophies in the Trophy Room on the third floor. The job would have taken longer, except for the fact that there were five of them doing it, and even though Filch was breathing down their necks, they managed to share some humorous moments of camaraderie in their task. Olivia hoped that they would have this particular detention, because she had all sorts of great ideas of pranks she could pull during it, once she learned enough magic.


	7. Mission Muggle

**August, 1978**

"You make a terrible Muggle, Sirius."

He barked with laughter, turning to show off the suit Lily had gotten him. The problem with it? The bow-tie. Lily had gotten him a perfectly normal tie, but Sirius insisted on wearing a neon-orange bow-tie he found in a shop in Muggle London. It was horrible.

"Shows how much you know, love. I happen to have done extensive study of Muggles."

Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Reading Muggle magazines with dirty pictures isn't extensive research, it's called being a male with a pulse."

"I'm very in tune with Muggle culture," he argued. "I've got stylish hair, I eat the occasional hamburger, I've got a motorbike–"

"Yeah, one that flies," she snorted. "Whatever, it doesn't matter, you'll pass. Just give me the keys."

He stared at her.

"Why?"

"Because I'm driving."

"No, you're not! Are you crazy?"

"You've never driven a car, Padfoot. I have. I'd like to get to the meeting point in one piece, so give me the damn keys, Sirius, or I'll take them myself and you won't be sleeping next to me when we're back if it comes to that."

He stared at her, amused.

"You do know it's my house, love?"

She raised an eyebrow dangerously and said coolly, "And that means what? You really think I can't make you sleep on the sofa?"

He hesitated, but then decided it was best to hand over the keys, even if it did hurt his pride, just a little bit.

At the Underground entrance they had chosen, Olivia found a parking space, pulled over, and waited for Elphias Doge. He was prompt, taking only minutes to appear and take the car off their hands. Sirius and Olivia then made their way to the Underground, taking the stop Albus had circled on the map he had given them, and began searching for the coffee shop they were meant to make contact in.

Olivia could feel Sirius following her like a shadow.

"Sirius," she sighed, "we're supposed to know each other casually. You're not supposed to be stalking me." She turned around and gave him a look that she hoped seemed more annoyed than flirtatious, but it probably didn't matter. He took everything as flirting unless she was throwing things at his head.

He returned the look with a sheepish grin.

"Maybe I have a casual crush on you. I'd say that's plausible."

Olivia kept herself from groaning and turned the corner at the next street. She paused, looking at the map of London in her hands.

"I think we're lost."

Sirius came and looked over her shoulder.

"Are you holding the map upside down?"

She glared up at him, but he just barked with laughter.

"I was just joking, love. No, that would be something Prongs would do. He hates Muggle maps."

They both laughed. Sirius was, of course, referring to the time they went to pick Lily up from her parents' house. James had been shocked by the number of people wandering around her neighborhood, because none of them showed up on the map. He was so used to the Marauder's Map that he had forgotten that most maps, especially Muggle maps, didn't work like that. They had teased him for it for weeks.

"We'll, it's not upside down, but the letters are all very small and I'm not sure if this is the street we're supposed to be on or if it's the next one over." She squinted down at the map. "Or maybe it's the one we just passed…"

"Excuse me," said a kindly-looking Muggle woman, with three children hanging from her arms and legs, as young children do. "I couldn't help but notice you struggling with that map. First time in London? Are you lost?"

Sirius opened his mouth to say that he was born and raising in London and that they were not lost, thank-you-very-much, but Olivia cut him off and smiled at the woman, saying, "It's our first time in this part of London, actually. And yes, we are. Do you happen to know if this coffee shop here," she pointed on the map, "is on this street, or one of the other ones going east-west? This map is so busy, I can't tell."

The woman smiled again.

"That's right next to my building, dear. It's the next street up. I'll walk you there." She began to lead them up to the next street and chatted at them in a friendly manner, completely ignoring the children hanging from her appendages and somehow managing to walk quite smoothly despite them.

"So, a lovely young couple like you, are you visiting family or something?"

Olivia shook her head.

"A possible business associate. And we're not a couple," she added, as if to remind herself. "We hardly know each other. We just started working together."

The woman smiled again and said, "Ah, well, forgive me, but you look like you would make a lovely couple. Do you live somewhere else in London?"

Sirius replied, "No, we're from up north a ways. We're trying to find a place to stay while we close a few deals."

The woman froze and looked up at them, her smile widening.

"Are you really? Are all your business deals in this part of town?"

"Why, yes," said Olivia, "they are."

"Excellent!" I have an extra room, but mind you, you'd have to share. If that doesn't bother you, I'd be more than happy to put you up! My husband loves visitors. And anyway," she said, continuing toward the coffee shop, "there's really nowhere decent to stay nearby."

Olivia smiled and said, "Oh, that would be lovely, Mrs.…"

"Kitchen," replied the woman. "Lois Kitchens. And these are my children, David, Allen, and Nancy. And my husband is Edward. You can meet him after your meeting. I'll point out the building as we go by and you can just go there when you finish your business. What were your names, again?"

"Olivia Dawson," said Olivia, making up a surname on the spoke. "And this is… William Denker." Sirius suppressed what Olivia to tell was a sour expression at the name she had given him, but 'Sirius' was far too unusual in the Muggle world. It would draw attention. Still, she knew she would be hearing about her decision later.

"Well, Miss Dawson, Mr. Denker, this is our building. Just come knocking when you're ready. And that right there is the coffee shop. I hope everything goes well."

Olivia smiled and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Kitchens, thank you so much. We'll see you later on."

As they entered the coffee shop, Sirius leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "William Denker?"

Olivia shrugged.

"It was the first thing that came to mind. It's not like it'll be your name forever; it's only temporary." She searched the room and smiled when she spotted a large red-haired man in the back wearing a Muggle suit and reading a Muggle newspaper. "Ah, there's Edgar."

She strode over to him, smiling, and held out her hand, which he shook.

"Hello, Mr.…"

He nodded and said, "Russell."

"Mr. Russell. My name is Olivia Dawson and this is William Denker, my associate. Thank you for meeting us today.

"Pleased to meet you both. Please, have a seat."

They sat down across from him and Sirius rested his hand on Olivia's knee, which he removed with a sharp look from her, recoiling as though he had just been slapped.

"What have you learned?"

Sirius sighed.

"Nothing yet, Mr. Russell. We've met someone who will board us, but that's about all." He grinned at Olivia. "Someone had trouble reading the map, so we had fun getting here."

She could feel crimson creeping into her cheeks and smell Sirius's satisfaction. Well, now they were even. Edgar pretended not to notice a thing.

"Very well. Tomorrow, someone else will be sent, one of our younger associates. You will know him by his messy dark hair and glasses. Report anything to him. We'll send him at three, like today."

Olivia and Sirius nodded. James was meeting them. She wasn't' sure how wise this was, having the three of them meet in a coffee shop, but she didn't dare point this out because she wanted to see James.

"What's the news from your side of things, Mr. Russell?" asked Sirius, who had been anxious for information on Caradoc and Dedalus since he heard they had an assignment so secret that no one else was to know what they were meant to be doing.

"We know little more than we did, Mr. Denker. We do know that a certain Miss Morecomb is looking for you two and that the opponent is going to try to steal your business." He gave them a significant look. The Death Eaters were hunting them, again. "We trust that you're still on our side?"

Olivia nodded.

"Always, Mr. Russell. Your product is far more valuable."

He gave a sharp nod and quickly downed the rest of his coffee.

"I thought so. We'll send our associate to meet you tomorrow, then. We hope for more news from your front at that time."

The three of them stood, shook hands, and Sirius said, "So do we, Mr. Russell."

With that, Edgar left and the pair strolled casually out of the coffee shop, double checking for familiar faces on the way out, and breathing a sigh of relief when they reached the door of Mrs. Kitchens's building without being attacked. When they arrived, a suave-looking man opened the door and put a trash bag out on the street. They looked at him and he smiled back at them.

"Excuse me, sir," said Sirius, "we were wondering where in the building Mrs. Kitchens lives?"

The man's smile broadened.

"Ah, you must be the young couple my wife is putting up. Come on in, I'll show you up."

They followed him inside and Olivia muttered something under her breath about not being a couple, but Sirius caught her eye and gave her a smug smirk. The inside of the building was as nondescript as the outside and Mr. Kitchens was just as talkative as his wife.

"So, where do you two work?"

"With a firm up north, a very local outfit. I'm sure you haven't heard of it."

"Oh, lovely, just lovely. Are you new to the job?"

"Oh, yes, very, but we're learning fast."

"Very good. If you don't mind me saying, you both look quite young."

"We just got out of school."

"It's always those with the least experience who get sent on these nasty little business trips, isn't it? The men with power go to Tahiti and Las Vegas and the young workers get sent to London."

Olivia smiled and nodded as eh showed them into a large flat on the second floor.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Kitchens, what do you do?"

He puffed up rather proudly and smiled broadly.

"Special political advisor to a member of Parliament, August Beutel. Just elected in this last cycle."

Her mind raced. They had landed the perfect household completely by accident. Sirius realized as well and he said, "Congratulations! We're both quite interested in politics. Perhaps you could take with us about your work sometime, sir."

"I'd be positively delighted, young man, it's so good to know that the young are interested in our political system," Mr. Kitchens beamed. "Lois! Lois, darling, I have the young couple here!"

The woman poked her head out of a nearby room.

"Dear, don't shout; I've just put the children down for a nap." She smiled her charming little smile and ushered them to sit down and make themselves at home. "Your room is nearly ready. It's not very big, I'm afraid, and there's only one bed, but it's quite comfortable, and if you need something, don't hesitate to ask. Would you like some tea? How long is your stay in London?"

Olivia shook her head.

"No tea, thank you."

"Oh, but you did just go for coffee. How silly of me!"

"We're not sure how long we'll be staying, ma'am, I'm afraid," said Sirius. "We don't know how long these deals will take to close."

"Well, you just stay as long as you need to, dears; that's no trouble at all. Edward, darling, I've got a roast in the oven. Would you check it for me?"

And so they passed the evening chatting with Lois and Edward about the state of things politically. Edward was eager to talk, clearly thrilled that he was working for an MP, despite how difficult it was to represent a man of power when people kept dying and disappearing mysteriously. Sirius keenly planted seeds of thought on precautionary measures Edward's employer could recommend people take that didn't seem odd to Muggles, and might even do some good. Olivia cast some protective enchantments on the building when she got up to get a glass of water. Sirius was doing a good enough job of gathering information on his own, and Edward certainly didn't feel as comfortable talking about politics with Olivia as he did with Sirius.

That night, Lois showed them to the room she had prepared for them and said goodnight. When the door was shut, Sirius smiled at Olivia.

"Not bad for our first day of our first assignment," he said.

"No, but we need to stay on alert. We don't want to put this family in unnecessary danger; you heard Edgar, They're looking for us again. I expect they're trying to find Caradoc and Dedalus as well."

They sat down on the bed and Olivia went to take her shoes off, but before she could, Sirius grabbed her around the waist and flung her down on the bed, kissing her neck.

"_William_," she hissed, irritated, "we're not together, remember?"

He grinned and kissed her nose.

"Can't you tell that dear Lois Kitchens is trying to set us up? This bed is big enough for those three children with room to spare, but the other room as two beds. She did this on purpose, and who am I to deny her hospitality?"

Olivia snorted, knowing he was right and not fighting particularly hard as he began to kiss her neck again, running his hands slowly along her waist.

"Please, not tonight. Maybe we can play her game, but not right away. At least act the part, darling."

He sighed, smelling incredibly frustrated, but kissed her nose once more before he collapsed beside her, allowing her to sit up, take off her shoes, and get ready for bed. They nuzzled together out of habit and fell fast asleep, forgetting for a few hours that they had to be somebody else.

In the morning, Lois Kitchens made them a lovely breakfast and Edward Kitchens left for work. Lois asked when their meeting was and they told her it was at three.

"Oh lovely, I have to go across town to check on my mother this morning. Would you mind terribly watching the children while I'm gone? I ought to be back by one."

They told her they did not mind and she thanked them, told the children to behave, and left promptly to check on her aging mother.

David, Allen, and Nancy were darling, adorable little children – when their mother was around. The five-year-old twin boys and four-year-old girl were absolute demons when their mother wasn't in sight, and she hadn't the faintest clue of course After a short time of attempting to control the children with Muggle methods, Sirius and Olivia were completely exhausted, so Sirius used a quick charm to discretely calm them and sat them in front of a television. He collapsed next to Olivia on the couch.

"Two more hours 'til we meet Prongs," she said, resting her head absently on Sirius's shoulder.

"Mmm… children."

She smiled, tired, and sighed, "You don't like children?"

"Not at this age. I like the really small ones – babies, you know, until they're about three – and then when they get to school age and can take care of their own stuff for the most part."

Olivia laughed.

"I see, so you'd just like to skip over the most crucial years of parenting. What a wonderful father you'll be."

"Well, you've got to have kids to raise them and I haven't, so don't judge me yet. Do you want kids?"

Olivia bit her lip, suddenly realizing the dangerous territory this conversation was heading into, how close they were to touching on the content of the prophecy. She would have a child, but did she want one? Yes, but she knew the birth of the child would herald her own impending death, so it was hard to be eager to birth a child when she knew she would never get to raise it. Sirius frowned.

"It wasn't that horrible of a question."

"I don't really know," she said softly, not meeting his eyes.

It was as honest as she could be and Sirius didn't seem to care. Eventually, Lois Kitchens came home to find that her boarders had fed and tamed her children, and she was very pleased. She told them all about how wonderfully her mother was getting along this week. The woman had apparently improved tremendously over the previous month, when they thought they might lose her; her health was improving and her hip had nearly healed.

A little before three, Sirius and Olivia made their way over to the coffee shop and looked carefully around for James. They found him sitting at a booth, reading a Muggle newspaper and sipping a coffee, which his face showed quite planning that he didn't like. Olivia greeted hi exactly as she had greeted Edgar the day before, but James was not nearly the actor Edgar was.

"Call me Ronald Curtis. That's what Mr. Russell said my name was," he said with a grin, motioning for them to sit down as Sirius barked with laughter. Olivia frowned.

"Mr. Curtis, please, if you can't take this seriously, perhaps your employer ought to send someone else to meet with us."

"Oh, come on, Olivia. Don't be such a stick in the mud. What have you got?"

They told him all about the family they were staying with and the feel of things in Parliament. They told him more than the Order needed to know, but it was better than not saying enough and having someone die who needn't. James took careful notes.

"Very well," he said. "I haven't got much news. Your business partners," he said pointedly, clearly referring to Dedalus and Caradoc, "have now become one. The younger one has been transferred to a new assignment because he draws too much attention to himself."

Sirius snorted and Olivia shook her head.

"Oh, you mean like dear William here?"

James laughed again.

"Yes, although worse, I think. From the sounds of things he nearly got someone killed and it may have been his partner."

"_Shh!_ Ronald, keep your voice down!" hissed Olivia, looking anxiously around at faces and minds to make sure no one was listening in.

"Right. Anyway, same time and place tomorrow. They're sending Doge, I believe."

Olivia hissed again, but Sirius thanked him quickly and they all stood, shook hands, and parted ways. Sirius and Olivia looked carefully around for anyone who might be an enemy on their way back to the Kitchens' flat.

They went on that way for weeks with very little to speak of. One evening, Lois and Olivia were doing dishes after dinner while Sirius extracted more political news from Edward.

"William is a handsome man," said Lois a little too casually.

Suppressing a groan, Olivia nodded and dried the plate that had been set in front of her.

"I suppose so."

"Such a handsome man. Back in my youth, a man like that never would have gone for a girl like me." She smiled at Olivia. "I was never so pretty as you, dear."

"Thank you," muttered Olivia, hopping this wasn't going where she thought it was going.

"It seems a pity to me that you two keep such a professional distance. I've seen the way he watches you. It's a shame that such a handsome couple can't put propriety aside when no one's watching."

Olivia nearly laughed. They were always being watched, and even if the Death Eaters weren't watching, Lois Kitchens never let them out of her sight for long. She was like a vulture.

"Anyway, dear, thank you for the help with the dishes. It's nearly time for bed, isn't it?"

And Olivia went off and settled herself in bed, ready to meet Edgar the next day. The door opened and Sirius slipped in, closing it behind him and turning off the light. He crawled into the bed next to her and kissed her softly.

"Good night," she whispered.

"Not yet," he said, turning her over and kissing her more passionately. "It's been too long and Merlin only knows how long we'll be here. I'm not letting you sleep yet."

She might have argued, but she couldn't find the conviction to do so with his scent overwhelming her senses. When Lois Kitchens opened the door the next morning and saw the young pair tangled up in the sheets, she smiled, congratulated herself inwardly on a job well done, and closed the door again, getting started on making breakfast.

The day went quite normal and the meeting with Edgar went well. That is, it went well until the end, when he warned them that it was very likely that their location was compromised.

"My employer thinks we have someone in our organization passing information to our competitor."

Olivia frowned. A spy? Someone in the Order was spying for Voldemort? She and Sirius exchanged dark looks, wondering who it might be.

"Same time and place tomorrow, and expect Mr. Curtis."

They nodded, shaking hands, and Edgar left, but Sirius and Olivia lingered. She grabbed his hand tightly under the table.

"Who–?"

"I was thinking the same thing," he said. "What if it's someone we've met with? What if it's someone who knows where we are, or where Caradoc is?"

"But we've met with half the Order. You'd have thought that by now they would have come for us."

"Maybe they're waiting for something… some bit of information."

"I don't like this, love."

She stared into his eyes, terrified, smelling his own anxiety.

"It's going to be okay, darling, I promise," he whispered. "Let's go back to the flat and just keep on with what we've been doing until someone tells us differently."

He took her hand, helped her up, and they left the coffee shop, strolling as casually as possible to the building next door. Suddenly, Sirius froze and stared at someone across the street.

"Livia–" he began, but a spell hit him from behind and he collapsed. The last thing Olivia remembered was seeing the cold eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange smiling down at her as she fell to the ground at the woman's feet and the world went black.


	8. Pride

**October/November, 1971**

After the detention was deemed finished by the disappointed Argus Filch, who clearly thought that they weren't punished severely enough, they trotted off to bed and went back to their normal lives, sleeping, eating, classes, the occasional prank, and much frolicking, since Olivia in particular had far more energy than she could ever use up without the occasional frolic.

A little over a week later, with their lives functioning with a certain amount of routine and normalcy, the second feast of the year, Halloween, occurred. The school was abuzz with chatter and gossip about the feast and its splendor. The Great Hall was decorated with live bats, which Olivia, admittedly, wasn't pleased with, and there were absolutely massive pumpkin lanterns in each corner. There were all sorts of rumors about possible entertainment, but Olivia happened to know that the choir was simply performing a few relevant pieces, since Kiki Cromwell was in the choir.

Halloween night, they followed the sea of people down to the Great Hall and sat down, Olivia between Remus and Sirius, and James and Peter across the table. There was a sparkle of joy in James's eyes, and Olivia saw him suppress it when she looked at him. As the choir sang, she cast him a suspicious look and turned to whisper in Sirius's ear.

"What are you planning?" she hissed.

An unmistakable grin overtook his lips, but it was squashed moments later. He shook his head.

"Nothing," he whispered back, tickling her ear with his hair as he leaned in. "Don't worry about it."

She frowned. What was going to happen? Surely they weren't about to pull a prank without her?

But they did. About halfway through dessert, the Great Hall was covered in goo. Remus flinched as the goo grew into a fully-fledged swamp. He looked nervous, but not surprised. She whipped her head around to glare at Sirius.

"Why didn't you tell me you were planning this? Why was I not in on this?"

Sirius laughed and James and Peter shushed them, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that they were the ones who had done it. Sirius waved them off and answered, "We wanted to give you some plausible deniability, Livia. You're getting way too fond of detention."

She wondered what he meant by that and shook her head, turning back to her chocolate cake as if she wasn't sitting in the middle of a marsh that hadn't been there five minutes earlier. James roared with laughter as she finished her piece of cake.

"Remus," she said, a perfectly nonchalant expression on her face, "could you perhaps get me another slice?"

Sirius frowned. "You don't even like chocolate cake."

Olivia shrugged. "So? I'm hungry, and it's right there."

They all moaned.

"You're always hungry," said James. And they watched her finish her third piece of chocolate cake before following Professor Dumbledore's orders to the school to return to their dormitories while the teachers sorted out the Great Hall. His blue eyes twinkled in their direction, but he accused them of nothing and did not stop them as they took off to the Gryffindor common room.

When they arrived, they collapsed in some armchairs, laughing raucously. "My god," said James, "You should have seen the look on McGonagall's face! That was priceless!"

"McGonagall?" said Olivia. "I think you mean Filch! The man nearly fainted, it was perfect!"

Sirius, however, was frowning.

"Something's up, guys."

"How do you mean?" said Remus.

"Snivellus and that Slytherin prefect, the one with the blonde hair, were whispering all through dinner and looking over at us. And then they were talking to Eva… I think they were watching you, Livia."

She frowned, sitting up a little in her squishy armchair, which was difficult. "Watching me? But, why?"

Sirius shrugged and the five of them exchanged dark looks.

"Just, watch yourself, Livia," said James. "We don't want a repeat of the dueling incident. And that prefect knows a lot of magic."

She nodded, covered her yawn with her hand, and announced that it was time she got to bed. After all, tomorrow they would have to explain to her exactly how they had figured out to turn the Great Hall into a swamp. There had to be a good story behind it.

She changed into her pajamas and lay down in her bed, still on top of the blankets. Lily was lying in her own bed, watching her suspiciously. There was a deep frown on her pink little lips and her green eyes were flashing dangerous.

"You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

Olivia laughed. "No, I actually didn't. I had no idea what was coming. I promise."

Lily looked skeptical, but nodded and said, "And the boys? Potter and the rest of your gang, did they?"

Olivia refrained from the strong temptation to bite her lip. She knew that if she told on them, Lily would turn them in. On the other hand, she didn't want to lie to her new best friend. There had to be something she could say to keep everyone happy. Weren't girls supposed to be good at this stuff?

"Look, Lily, please don't ask me to pick a side in this stuff, especially when I'm not involved. They're my friends, and so are you and I'd rather that you all didn't pull me in different directions until I snap. Can we just agree to not talk about pranks, at all?"

For a moment, it seemed as though Lily were about to snap at her, but instead, she nodded sourly and turned her head.

"Goodnight, then, Livia."

Olivia let out a sigh of relief. "Goodnight, Lily." She crawled underneath her covers, thankful she hadn't had to choose.

/-/

While everyone had known the boys had pulled the prank, and many had suspected Olivia's involvement, nobody was ever able to prove it, so somehow they escaped punishment. Pranks were kept on a less glorious scale for a while after that, just in case. Olivia and Remus had continued to attend Slughorn's Slug Club dinners, along with Lily and the Sitzer twins, but James and Sirius used this time to not do that homework that they would later pile in front of Remus and Olivia to do.

One night, after just such an occasion, the day before the first Quidditch match of the year, Remus pulled Olivia into an empty classroom on the way back from dinner. She looked at him quizzically, but sat down on a desk before asking, "What's up, Moony?"

He frowned. "Moony?"

"Why not?" she said with a shrug. "It suits your condition. Anyway, what do you want?"

He ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "There's something really fishy going on, I think Sirius is right. There are a lot of Slytherin boys who seem to be watching you and Malfoy is leading the pack."

"What could he want, though?" she said, biting her lip. "I haven't done anything wrong. Well, nothing without the rest of you, anyway. And I've avoided crossing his path, or any Slytherin for that matter, since the duel."

"Not Snivellus," Remus reasoned.

"No," she said with a wistful smile. "Not Snivellus. By the by, my dad said he'd be happy to send me a few bottles of shampoo as long as I didn't tell him what they were for. Assuming he remembers to get them soon, I expect that prank will be ready sometime before Christmas."

Forgetting all previous concerns about the Slytherin boys, Remus's eyes lit up at the prank they had been planning. "Excellent," he said. "And I overheard Lily saying how sad it was that Snivellus was staying over break, so he'll be here for sure. I don't know how I talked my parents into letting me stay; I was so sure they'd make me come home."

Her smile lit up the dark classroom and her eyes twinkled merrily. "Well, you're going to be here, Moony, and we're going to have the time of our lives."

They jaunted back to the common room, discussing possible things they could tell James, Sirius and Peter when they strolled in long after Lily had come back. Most of them involved the Giant Squid, knowing James wouldn't ask any questions, and the other two would be laughing like crazy. Remus put his arm around her shoulders as they walked and laughed, though trying not to be quite so loud, as it was most probably after hours at this point.

When they arrived back at the common room, Sirius raised his eyebrows at the sight of Remus with an arm around Olivia, but he didn't say anything. Peter was frantically reading_ Quidditch Through the Ages_, and Sirius was trying to play Exploding Snap by himself, which was a horrible plan. James was nowhere to be seen.

"James went to bed," said Sirius, lazily, "said something about needing his strength to be a proper Quidditch spectator. Oh, and he's annoyed with you, Livia. He thinks you're not going to be well rested enough for the game tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes. "Since when did the spectators need as much rest as the players? Or has he forgotten we're not playing?"

"Probably," he said with a shrug. "Well, I'm just passing along a message. Goodnight, all. I'll see you in the morning."

After he left, Olivia looked down at her watch and frowned. "It is getting a bit late," she said. "I probably ought to turn in now. James will be furious with me if I end up yawning at breakfast." They laughed. "I expect to see you both in your best scarlet and gold tomorrow morning!" she said with a smile, saying goodnight and hurrying up to her dormitory.

She laid out clothes for the morning, as well as brushing her teeth and combing her hair for a few minutes. When she began to get sleepy, Olivia set down her brush, climbed into bed, and closed her eyes, thinking of the coming Quidditch match, the strange behavior of the Slytherins, and Remus Lupin's arm around her shoulder. Naturally, her dreams were very strange.

She dreamt entirely in red and gold, with the boys from Slytherin holding her hostage in a classroom, Remus trying to get in, panicked. She was screaming and crying, and Lucius was making a sign that said "Olivia Cromwell, Gryffindor witch" and caged her up, putting the sign above her cage for reference.

Olivia awoke to the shaking of Lily and Mary, who were standing over her, the other Gryffindor girls crowding around them. Lily informed her that she had actually been crying and screaming. Lily eventually dismissed the other girls, saying it had just been a bad dream, which was true, and climbed into bed with Olivia, hugging her. Like children frightened by a thunderstorm, they clung together on the bed, neither speaking about the dream, but both knowing it wasn't good.

The next morning, Olivia rolled over into Lily, waking both of them up. They proceeded to get dressed for the big game, all the girls helping each other channel their Gryffindor spirit, the screaming episode supposedly forgotten. When Olivia skipped down the steps to the common room to meet the boys for breakfast, she was surprised to find them hovering near the stairs, all looking worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Too much spirit?"

James shook his head, "Nah, you look perfect."

Sirius elbowed him in the ribs, stopping him from distracting the conversation and said, "We heard you had a nightmare."

She frowned. "Oh."

"Actually," said Peter, "we heard that you woke up every girl in Gryffindor and some of the boys with your screaming."

Her jaw dropped. Had she really been that loud?

"Way to go, Peter," said Remus. "Yeah, rumors are flying like crazy. I expect the rest of our year will know by the time the game starts."

Olivia groaned and made to smack her forehead, but stopped when she realized that doing so would smudge her perfect face-paint. They were still staring at her.

"Anything you want to talk about?" said Sirius.

"Because we're here if you do," said Remus.

She shook her head. "No, guys it was just a bad dream, nothing bizarre, nothing unusual. Now let's go get some breakfast so I can scream my lungs out at the Quidditch match! Deal?"

James and Peter were satisfied, but Sirius and Remus were clearly not. Still, three won out against two and the five of them went down for breakfast, making up songs on their way and singing them horribly out of tune.


	9. I'll Be There

**November, 1971**

At the party that followed the match (in which they steamrolled Slytherin), James and Olivia were talking Quidditch with some of the people on the team while Sirius, Remus and Peter watched them.

"What's wrong with her, Remus?" asked Sirius.

"I've been wondering the same thing," said Remus.

They watched Olivia as she talked enthusiastically with James and the older Gryffindors, discussing the match in tiny details. Her green eyes were twinkling like never before and her smile was infectious, but every so often, she would pause, her eyes would darken, and a frown would grace her features for a few seconds. She would then shake her head and her old expression would return in full force, but Remus and Sirius noted this each time it happened.

"We need more food!" called a fourth year girl.

"We'll get some," said Sirius, grabbing Olivia by the arm and dragging her out of the common room to go and nick some more food from the kitchens. She looked like she might protest, but he gave her his sternest stare and she followed without a fight.

"All right, Livia, what's wrong with you? Remus and I are freaking out and you need to tell us before we nick some Veritaserum from Slughorn and _make_ you tell us. Out with it!" He was poking her relentlessly as they headed to the kitchens.

Olivia shrugged. "It's nothing, Sirius. I promise. Please don't make me talk."

Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop, getting right up in her face and whispering low. "Don't you dare think we don't have a right to know, Livia," he said. "We're worried about you, so tell me right now what it is. I don't care if it's just nightmares about James and the Giant Squid, but you need to tell me right now so I can know what I'm dealing with, here."

From the way she winced when he had said the word 'nightmare', Sirius knew he had struck a nerve. Tears filled her eyes and he hugged her tightly, petting her like a cat. "It's okay, Livia, I'm right here. You can tell me."

For a while, they just stood there like that, him whispering calming things and her crying into his shoulder. Finally, she calmed down enough to speak. "I keep having nightmares," she said, "about some of the Slytherins. I keep seeing them doing awful things to me. And they keep looking at me all the time, like I'm some sort of animal that needs to be caged. I don't understand."

Sirius had been wondering about their odd behavior as well. Lucius Malfoy would leer at her all the time, as well as a third year named Yaxley. Like an animal that needed to be controlled, yes, but they looked at her like she was a beautiful animal that needed to be controlled, and that made him very uncomfortable. It would be even tougher to be looked at like that."

"They're not going to hurt you, Livia, I promise. We're going to make sure that they don't touch you. Remus and I have been so worried about you. You could have just told us about these nightmares. That's what you were screaming about last night, wasn't it?"

Olivia nodded and wiped her face before burying it back in Sirius's shoulder, this time heaving great dry sobs. He eventually calmed her down enough to get to the kitchens, grab some food, and take it back to the common room, where Olivia went back to the Quidditch crowd and put on a dazzling smile, and Sirius went back to Remus.

"Nightmares and Slytherins," whispered Sirius in Remus's ear. "I'll tell you more later on." Remus nodded and they drank their butterbeer, watching the group of over-excited Gryffindors around them dancing and cheering.

Sirius put on a smile and pretended to be enjoying the party, much in the way he expected that Olivia was doing, but eventually he couldn't handle it any longer and grabbed Remus's arm, telling James and Olivia that they were tired and turning in early, and dragged his friend up the stairs to their dormitory.

After explaining everything he had convinced Olivia to tell him, Sirius watched Remus carefully. Remus's face was completely blank and he seemed almost reluctant to allow emotion to show. Finally, Sirius said, "Well? What do we do?"

"I'm not sure," said Remus. "Why do you think they're watching her?"

"I don't know," said Sirius picking at a string on his coverlet. "It could be anything. Some of those boys are a lot older than her. A lot of them are our age, though. Maybe it has something to do with the rivalry? Maybe it's got something to do with her dad?"

Remus frowned. "Like, they're going to kidnap her for ransom or something?"

Sirius shrugged. "It would be a huge political crisis."

"Exactly, and I don't think a bunch of first years care about causing a major political crisis, even if they get the ransom money. No, there's something else going on, I think."

"Well, I don't know about you," said Sirius, "but I really am exhausted. I think I'll go to bed now. Are you going back down to the party?"

Remus shook his head. "I'm tired too. We can talk it out with James and Peter in the morning. Maybe they'll have a good idea."

Sirius snorted as he climbed into bed. "Yeah, when Snivellus washes his hair."

And with dry laughter, they fell asleep. Sirius awoke at one point in the night to screaming, which he knew was Olivia, again, but it eventually died down, which meant someone had dealt with her nightmare. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and checking his watch. It was one in the morning. He had been having a pleasant dream that he couldn't remember anymore and it had been interrupted by the sounds of Olivia's screams. What was wrong with her? What was really going on?

Sirius looked around the dormitory at all the sleeping boys. The Gryffindor first year boys' dormitory was the most packed in the school, because for some reason a large chunk of boys got sorted into Gryffindor. It was one of the largest groups in years. Most dormitories had five or six people in them. Theirs had ten. On the other hand, the Slytherin boys in their year had just about the same. It was just a weird year.

Sirius may have been looking at the boys' dormitory, but his mind was upstairs with the girls. There were five girls upstairs, and he had no idea what their room looked like, as boys couldn't get up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. From casual chatting, though, Sirius had deduced that Olivia likely slept near Lily Evans and Mary MacDonald, which made sense, because they were together much of the time, especially when she was coming downstairs in the mornings.

Now that someone had woken her from her nightmare, was Olivia lying awake, thinking about something in her bed? Was she trying to forget the nightmare? Peter turned on his side and his snores filled the room, no longer muffled by the pillow in his face. Sirius grimaced. Ten guys in one room was nobody's idea of a good time. He closed his eyes and somehow managed to fall asleep, despite Peter's snores.

The next morning at breakfast, Sirius stared at Olivia, well aware the Remus was as well. She was clearly attempting to ignore them as she buttered her toast, but she didn't last long. "All right, out with it, what do you two want? Did I lose a bet and forget to pay or something?"

"Now that you mention it," said Sirius slyly, lips curling into a grin, but Remus elbowed him in the ribcage and cast him an annoyed glance.

"We heard you screaming again last night."

"What makes you think it was me?" she said coolly, pouring more juice and avoiding their eyes in a way that confirmed that yes, it was her.

"Olivia, please," said Remus. "You need to tell us what's wrong."

"Yeah," said James through a mouth full of sausage. "So we can curse the hell out of the losers who are causing it so we can get some real sleep."

"No chance of that, mate, no matter who we curse. Peter's snoring is just as bad," said Sirius with a wink.

"I do not snore!" said Peter.

"Oh, come on, Peter, everyone knows you snore. Loner was complaining about it to Margery and Mary last week." Olivia's hand flew to her mouth the second she realized she had just resorted to calling Lonnie by his cruel nickname. The boys laughed.

"Glad to see you're really joining the club now," said Sirius with a satisfied smirk.

"I was always _in_ the club," she retorted. "In fact, I _invented_ the club. Are you forgetting who came up with the glorious name that is Snivellus?"

"Point to Livia. Anyway, seriously, now, what's wrong?" said James.

"I just don't appreciate people staring at me," she said, looking over at Remus and Sirius as she said it, "and that includes you guys. Unless I've got food on my face, and then don't just stare, tell me, or you'll regret it. Deal?"

"No deal," said James and Sirius at the same time, grinning at each other. Whatever the consequences she would make them suffer, there would sure be an instance where not pointing out the food on her face would make them worth it.

She sighed frustrated and said, "Okay, fine, I'm really scared because those crazy Slytherins are stalking me and it's creeping me out. Anything else you'd like to know? I'm sure I could come up with all sorts of things to start confessing, unless you'd rather I spared you the awful details of life as a girl?"

They all shook their heads frantically and she laughed coldly. "I thought not. Anyway, speaking of our club, we need a name for ourselves. I need something to refer to you boys as other than my boys, because I'd rather not have people thinking of me as the youngest slut in Hogwarts history."

"That's fair," said Sirius. "But it can't be something lame or girly, so you're not allowed to pick it."

She pouted, but didn't argue, exactly. "Can I at least have input on what you all suggest?"

"Deal. Moony, what have you got in that incredible vocabulary of yours?"

"Um, 'bandits'?"

"Have we ever actually stolen anything?"

"Unless you count that time we took Snivelly's underpants and strung them across the Slytherin common room, then no. And that wasn't really stealing, he got them back and they weren't in our possession very long."

"True, it was theft and more of reorganizing."

"That was a beautiful prank."

"What's beautiful about Snivelly's underpants?"

"Nothing at all, that part was rather disgusting, but the look on his face at breakfast the next day was pure poetry."

"Fair. Alright, what else?"

"Hmm," Moony scratched his chin. "How about 'marauders'?"

"Oh, Moony, that's perfect!" screeched Olivia excitedly, drawing the attention of many a nearby breakfast eater. "It's got the connotations of a bandit, but it's more like a rogue, a wanderer, and stuff like that. Plus, it's an archaic term, so it makes us sound smarter than we are."

"All agreed?" asked James, and they responded with eager nods. "Very well, I dub us all, Marauders. May the name bring fear in the hearts of our enemies, and joy to the hearts of our friends."

"What friends?" scoffed Remus. "Name one person in the whole school, not sitting here being dubbed at this moment, who hasn't been hit mercilessly by one of our pranks."

James tilted his head. "That's not fair. I probably don't know their name."

"Can't really call them a friend if you don't know their name," said Olivia reasonably, "but to be honest, Moony, I think he was meaning more friends of the cause than actual friends. And picking on Slytherins is a cause most reasonable people can support."

And it was decided. The five friends were now the Marauders, and though they couldn't agree on some sort of cheer or oath or anything noble like that, not even a motto, at least they agreed on a name, and that was something strong enough to bond them for a very long time. At least, that's what Sirius hoped.


	10. Hide and Seek

**September, 1978**

When Olivia came around, she was chained to a ceiling, hanging by her wrists. She looked around the room. It was dark, cold, and nearly empty. There were a couple of grandly carved wooden chair in one corner and a single candle burning down in the center of the floor, its light barely reaching the cold, stone walls. There was only one other thing in the room: a man chained directly across from her, also hanging from his wrists. As her eyes adjusted to the near-dark she realized that the man she was captive with was Sirius.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, he shook his head violently, his eyes pleading with her to stay silent. Perhaps she should even pretend she was still unconscious. How had she gotten here? What had she – what had they been doing before they were brought to this room and chained up?

A door opened and four people entered: two women, a man, and Lord Voldemort, who was, of course, a man, but barely looked like one anymore. He looked like a snake with legs and arms. The women were the cousins of the prisoners: Eva and Bellatrix. The man was Yaxley, who Olivia had not seen since she left school. His eyes lingered on Olivia greedily and she suppressed a shudder.

"I see you're both awake now. Good." Voldemort paced the room, looking back and forth between Sirius and Olivia. "Unfortunately, Bella was a little rough with you, but there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage done." He turned to face Olivia, his back to Sirius. "Now, I suppose you know why you're here, but just in case, I'll refresh your memories. I have two reasonable requests. The first is that you join me. The second is that you tell me where I can find Caradoc Dearborn. You first, dear," he said with a grin at Olivia. "Will you finally join me? I know you will be quite useful. You shall be given a place of honor amongst my followers, despite your previous hardheadedness."

She could hardly believe he was bothering to ask again. He must know by now that she would never – but then, some had proven weaker than she would have thought. After all, word out of the Order was that they had a spy. Perhaps he was hoping she had some weakness he had yet to discover. She smiled as best she could through the pain in her arms.

"I'm perfectly happy with my place in the Order, thank you. I don't need your honor."

He frowned.

"I thought you might continue to be stubborn. Well," he turned to Sirius, "how about you? You were raised in the right of things, Sirius. Perhaps you could talk some sense into your precious Olivia."

Sirius's face looked gaunt and wild in the near-darkness. His eyes glinted fiercely. Eva was watching him with a quiet reverence that was all-consuming, her eyes brimming with a desire to be close to him that Olivia could smell. The same look was on Bellatrix's face as she regarded Voldemort. Sirius looked over at Olivia and growled, "You may as well kill me now, because I'm not joining you and I'm not telling you anything."

Voldemort's once-lips curled into a snarl-like grin as he hissed, "That remains to be seen. I see you are eager to throw away your own life, but what of hers?" He signaled Bellatrix, who eagerly raised her wand at Olivia. Sirius winced. "Still so eager?"

"You'll not shake me."

"I see. Well, Bella, give Olivia a taste of our hospitality."

Olivia felt the Cruciatus Curse hit her like so many times before and suppressed the scream welling up behind her lips. It took an incredible amount of energy and she could not keep herself from writhing in pain, swinging from her chained wrists. Yaxley frowned, but Bellatrix's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Sirius was able to watch this without a flinch. This wasn't the first time, and they had known that this might happen, that Voldemort might try to use their relationship to aid his coercive tactics. They had sworn they wouldn't let him. Voldemort could see it wasn't working, so he tried something different.

"That's enough for now, Bella. Yaxley, how about you show our guest some hospitality now?"

At this, Yaxley's frown melted away and his eyes glowed evilly.

"With pleasure, my Lord," he whispered reverently as he moved slowly toward Olivia, one hand outstretched slightly. She couldn't run away, but she tried to swing herself away from his touch. There was only so much she could do. He held her steady with his hands at her waist, then pinned her to the wall with his body to hold her still. One hand remained at her waist while the other moved to stroke her hair. "It doesn't matter if you come willingly or not," he whispered in her ear. "He's promised you to me, one way or another."

It took all her remaining strength not to cry out in disgust and horror. She looked at Sirius, knowing that in the near-darkness, her terror would still be clear in her eyes. He began to shake violently when their eyes met, attempting to break his chains in vain and yelling in anger. Voldemort's snarl-like grin deepened.

"Have you changed your mind, Sirius? Have you got something to tell me now?"

Sirius panted, clearly furiously upset with the futility of the situation. Olivia opened her mind to his, sensing that he wanted to show her something. _I love you_, she heard his mind think, and he thought of their first kiss, the day they first met, their first date, the first time he said he loved her. Tears filled her eyes. She nodded, letting him know she had seen.

"You'll never find him," Sirius said, his voice more resolute than before. Olivia bit her lip, horrified. He was saying goodbye. They were going to be killed. They were going to be tortured and killed. Well, Sirius was going to be tortured and killed. She was going to be raped, tortured, and held prisoner until she was no longer of use, and then they would kill her. What a way to end it all.

"Yaxley, stand back. Let's let Bella have another try."

Olivia was momentarily relieved when the pressure of Yaxley's body was removed, but she was almost instantly hit with Bellatrix's curse again, this time unable to hold in the screams. She hadn't screamed so much since they found Mary MacDonald's body. That was a deeper, less familiar sort of pain. Sirius had been there then as well. Sirius was always there.

Now, she was aware that he was crying. He was writhing against his chains, growling and making noises of despair.

"Oh, I shall kill you, Sirius," said Voldemort, loud enough that she could hear over her own cries of agony. "Don't worry about that. But first, I shall make you beg for another chance, you and your precious love. In fact, you'll probably be the first to break. It seems to truly bother you to see her in pain, doesn't it? What things that weakness love does to even the strongest of men!"

For a moment, Olivia could hear nothing but her own gasps and cries of pain. Then Eva said, in a cool and even voice, "My Lord, the torture of the girl is producing little in the way of results. Perhaps there is something else, some other course we might try."

Voldemort nodded, waving Bellatrix to stop.

"I think you're right, Eva. She cannot do me any good if we drive her out of her mind." Olivia's screams faded and her body went weak, limp with exhaustion from the pain. He turned to face Sirius. "We shall take another course. Bella, torture your dear cousin."

Eva took a step back in spite of herself, the fear spreading out of her eyes to the rest of her face, and then throughout her body, causing her to tremble with the strength of it. Yaxley's greedy eyes turned and watched as Bellatrix hit Sirius with a curse and he began to whimper and moa, twitching where he was dangling from the ceiling.

Olivia watched in horror. She had very nearly fainted when the curse on her had been released, but now she wished she had. She watched Sirius, smelling his pain and hearing his moans, which soon turned to cries as Bellatrix added force. They had never gotten on, Sirius and Bellatrix.

Unable to cope with the exhaustion and her own pain, much less the weight of Sirius's pain, Olivia began to weep again. At first, no one took heed of the sound. They were all watching Sirius's torture, Eva with fear, the others with greed and glee. Yet after a short time, her sobs became louder, still fairly well masked by the cries of her love, but audible to a careful listener, and Voldemort was such a listener. He turned to her, and Eva and Yaxley turned soon after.

"Not crying for him, are you? Your precious love" – he spat the words – "let you be tortured, would have let you be raped. He would have even offered up your lives, refusing to give a tiny bit of information to spare you. And still you cry for him you foolish, sentimental girl?"

But Olivia didn't answer. She just watched Sirius crying and tried not to think about what she was seeing, remembering that she loved him, that he loved her, and that he would do anything to protect her in any other circumstance. Eva was looking equally fearful, trembling as she was. And then Olivia remembered that Eva loved him too and Olivia realized how this must be bothering her cousin. She gazed at the Death Eater, eyes still filled with tears, heart desperate.

"Eva!" she screamed. "Eva, please! Please help him!"

But there was no help from Eva. She was in pain, yes, but her fear of Voldemort was greater. She bit her lip and excused herself from the room, leaving the sterner, stronger hearts to deal with the messy business of torture. Olivia screamed after her, pleading for help, hoping against hope that Eva would come back. As her cries grew weaker with defeat, Sirius's cries grew stronger with pain.

Voldemort rounded on Olivia again.

"So tell me, Olivia, are you ready to end all of this? Just tell me where Dearborn is and all the pain stops."

For just a moment, she wanted to tell him everything, tears still pouring down her face, the cries of her love echoing madly through the old stone room. But she looked over at Yaxley who was still staring longingly at her, hoping that the torture would be over so that he could commence his own brand of torture. She realized that no matter if she sold out Caradoc or not, the pain wouldn't stop. She shook her head, too weak to speak and too pained to look at Sirius anymore. She shut her eyes, shook her head, and tried to lose herself in her happiest memories, though they all felt so slippery in this time and place.

And then she heard a horrifying sound that made her eyes snap back open. Sirius had suddenly stopped crying out and was simply sobbing. His eyes were still closed and he was still writhing in pain, but he didn't even have the strength to yell anymore. He kept muttering something under his breath, and after a few moments of him repeating it she realized he was saying, "Kill me, kill me, don't do this to her. Kill me."

Foolish man! How would she feel better if he died? True, there didn't seem to be a way out. He would die eventually, anyway, but maybe it was better to suffer like this together than to die and never have any hope again. She felt selfish for thinking that, but before she could dwell on her selfishness, the candle in the center of the room burned out.

Olivia shuddered as Voldemort's voice penetrated the air, hissing, "That's enough for tonight, Bella. We'll send someone with a bit of bread for them later and we'll try again in the morning." Olivia could hear some shuffling in the room and felt someone move close to her. Yaxley's voice was in her ear.

"It's only a matter of time, my pet. You'll be begging me to take you soon. Just a matter of time."

There was more shuffling and movement and then the door to the store room slammed shut and they were left alone. They hanged there in silence for what seemed like hours. Sirius was sobbing though Olivia could tell it was quietly as possible, trying to hide it from her. She sighed.

"Sirius, I love you, but stop trying to get yourself killed." He almost laughed at that. "Please, don't cry. We'll be all right. Who knows, me may even figure a way out of this thing, you and me. We're master escape artists. Think of how many ways we found to get out of Hogwarts unnoticed! This should be much easier. There's no Mrs. Norris." Another half-laugh sounded between sobs. "Sirius, please, don't give up yet. Even if he kills you, they're not going to kill me and…" Her voice caught in her throat and she could feel tears forming in her eyes. "I don't think I could do this without you, love. Please, don't give up."

The sobs slowed, but there was no laughter. When there was finally silence, she heard a small voice that was barely recognizable as Sirius say, "I love you, Livia. I wish I could save you. You have no idea how much it killed me to watch her hurt you. I'm so sorry, love."

Her heart nearly broke at his tender apology.

"It's not your fault, love. IT's not. This isn't about you. Besides, I do know. It's exactly how I felt when I watched them hurting you."

There was more silence and then, "Do you remember our first fight?"

She wasn't sure what he was referring to; they had fought so many times.

"I don't know. What was it?"

He laughed.

"If I remember correctly, you were angry at me because I defended your honor or something like that. You were mad that I didn't let you handle it on your own. We were just kids. I don't think you understood how much I loved you even then. I'm not sure I understood."

She smiled, vaguely recalling the incident in question. She had been furious.

"It doesn't matter now, love," she cooed. "We know now, and we're going to be okay, no matter what happens."

It seemed like forever went by as the two lovers went on sharing memories and stories of their childhood together, and the beginning of their love. Finally, Olivia sighed.

"Does it hurt, Sirius? Are you still in pain?"

At first, she wasn't sure he would answer. Then, slowly, he said, "A bit. I'm not going to lie, it still does hurt a bit. What about you?"

She laughed darkly.

"Ha, c'mon, Sirius, it's me! I'm always in pain, remember?"

"Olivia…"

"No, all joking aside, I feel like she's still cursing me. But I suppose it doesn't really matter. That'll just make the torture in the morning less of a shock to the system."

Just then the door opened again, timidly this time. Eva could be seen creeping in by the light of her wand, closing the door behind her. Without warning, she unchained Sirius, and then Olivia. She handed them the bread and their wands.

"Eat it, and eat it fast. Sirius, light your wand, please, so I can see what I'm doing."

They didn't ask, but Olivia was shocked. Actually, she was more shocked than Sirius smelled.

"All right, Sirius, hold still." Suddenly, he was disappearing. Eva had Disillusioned him. "Now, hold your wand steady, Sirius. Olivia, don't move, please. I'm not very good at this spell.

Olivia realized with a sudden lurch of her stomach that Eva was transfiguring her eyes so that they were blue, like Eva's, making them truly identical. Eva's wand was shaking a bit.

"Okay, I think I've done it. Now, I need one of you to chain me up where Olivia was, making it look like you somehow managed to overpower me and took off, leaving me here for someone to find in the morning. They won't be expecting this, since you'll go to my room and Disapparate. They won't come back until the morning and by then you'll be long gone. Now, my room is out the door, to the left up three flights of stairs, down the hall and the fifth door on your right, okay?"

Sirius had her repeat the directions a couple more times while he chained her to the ceiling. She let out a groan.

"What is it?"

"These really do hurt."

Olivia chuckled and remarked dryly, "The chains are nothing to Bellatrix's 'hospitality'. Try putting up with that for a night."

Eva whimpered. Sirius put out her wand and shoved it in her pocket. Olivia took out her own wand and lit it, just to get them out of the room.

"Good luck."

**A/N: So this is the very first scene I ever wrote for the ENTIRE SERIES. :D Part of the reason I restructured how I was posting the Olivia years is so that I could get some of the chapters I had written last year up by the time this year was over. :D Maybe it's a little selfish, but I think it will be more interesting to readers this way too. Hope you all enjoyed! I certainly did.**


	11. Kiss & Tell

**December, 1971**

November passed without much incident, except for Sirius's birthday, which became quite the grand affair; although Olivia pointed out that she still won because there was no cake waiting for him at breakfast. In truth, she had made James promise he wouldn't do one, because he was actually planning to, and she had to pay him a handsome sum to squash the plans. She wanted to win.

The first week of December, Professor McGonagall came around taking down the names of students staying over the break. Since it was an entirely new opportunity, they all managed to convince their parents to let them stay at Hogwarts for the holidays and scribbled their names down. In fact, a lot of first years were staying. A few days later, Olivia sent her sister a birthday present and Slug Club members all received formal invitations to the Christmas Party.

"What in the name of Merlin is this?" said Sirius, as he snatched the fancy invitation from Olivia's hand. James grabbed Remus's.

"You're expected to have a date for this thing?" said James, shocked. They all looked around at each other. There was one girl and four boys, one of whom was already in the club. "Well…"

Olivia sighed and snatched the invitation back. "Let's work this out logically. You guys argue like men until I get back, and I'll come back and sort you out properly when I've taken care of something."

She skipped over to where the Sitzer twins were huddling with Lily, eagerly reading their invitations. The boys were huddled together, bickering back at the table.

"Hello, ladies, I see you've received your invitations!" she said suavely. "I need to ask something of you."

"What?" said Lily suspiciously.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but there are four of us, you see, and I happen to have these four wonderful friends who happen to be guys and I can't take all of them to the Christmas party. Do you see my dilemma?" She smiled as though she was asking the most innocent thing in the world.

The Sitzer twins nodded, and Jiki said, "We'd be happy to go with whoever you'll set us up with. We were actually wondering who we'd go with, since we don't feel right asking someone."

"Perfect!" said Olivia, and then turning to Lily.

"What'd ya say, Lily? Willing to play along?"

Lily wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I don't think that's a very good idea, as I'm sure you'd expect us to all go as a group. And I certainly would like some sort of say on who takes me, seeing as I'd rather it wasn't–"

"James?" said Olivia dismissively. "Yeah, don't worry, I've already thought about that. How does Remus sound?"

Lily hesitated before nodding. "All right, you've got a deal, but if you can't set me up with Remus, I reserve the right to back out."

"Done!" said Olivia happily. Just then, she wrinkled her own nose as a certain greasy-haired Slytherin approached. "Ah, lovely, stalker number two has arrived, Lily."

Lily gave her a confused look, but the Sitzer twins knew what she was talking about. Many people casually referred to Snape as Lily's greasy stalker.

"Lily," he said with a momentary sneer in Olivia's direction, "I see you got your invitation."

"Yeah, I did, do you want my help finding someone to go with, Sev? I'm sure Mary would be happy to…"

Olivia cut her off. "Don't finish that sentence, Evans; Mary would kill you even if you could get Snivellus to agree." She ignored Lily's glare at the nickname. Now wasn't the time for tact. Now was the time to take a leaf out of James's book. "Look, I'm sure my cousin would go with you. Lily ought to be thinking about what she's going to wear when Remus takes her." His eyes flashed at her friend's name.

"You're letting that thing escort you?"

"Sev, come on, he's a nice boy. I made a perfectly good deal, and I'm not stuck with Potter. You should ask Eva, she's very pretty."

Olivia almost didn't realize that she could take that as a compliment. After all, they were near-twins.

"Morecomb is going with that third year, Yaxley. Well, that is, he told her she's going with him if he can't get Cromwell."

Olivia tensed visibly. Yaxley was going to try to ask her? What sort of sick game was this? She adjusted her face into a sneer. "He shouldn't bother; I'll be taken by breakfast. I just need to go back to Gryffindor's table and tell the Marauders which girl they need to ask and the four of us will all be spoken for. Eva can consider herself escorted."

With that, she stormed back to her friends, who were still bickering. When she sat, they fell silent immediately, awaiting her verdict. "Remus, you're going with Lily, but ask her formally. Now as for the rest of you," she said, examining her boys. She didn't know which poor girl she would stick Sirius or James on. They were a lot to handle. She decided she ought to take one of them for herself and then give the other one to Jiki, who could handle just about anything. Kiki would be the best with Peter, anyway, since she had the most tact of the three of them. So which boy did she take?

"Remus, if you had to pick James or Sirius to go with my sister, which would you pick?" They all stared at her strangely for her question, but Remus thought it over, nonetheless.

"I'd say James, because he's more likely to behave himself for fear of your wrath. Sirius is a lot to handle."

She nodded sharply. "That settles it, Peter, you ask Kiki, James you as Jiki, and Sirius'll be asking me."

Sirius grinned broadly as though he had won some sort of bet and then proceed to say, "So, wanna go?"

She gave him a sideways look that was half amused and half disgusted. "Sirius, love, if you want me to go anywhere with you have to ask me properly."

He frowned, unsure what to do as James sniggered. "Um… Livia, darling, it would be my greatest pleasure if you should allow me to accompany you to Slughorn's Christmas Party, dearest. What say you, princess?"

She smirked, quite surprised at how far he had actually gone. James and Remus were now howling with laughter, and a few other Gryffindors who had overheard were laughing appreciatively as well.

"Well, Sirius, my dear, if you insist." They then returned to their toast. "Snivellus did say something rather odd when we were over there."

James frowned. "He's taking a shower?"

"No."

"He's running away and eloping with Peter's mum," guessed Sirius.

"Hey!"

"No, that's not it."

"He's running away and eloping with the giant squid."

"Yes."

James nearly fell to the floor in shock. "WHAT?"

"I was kidding; it actually has nothing to do with him. He said that third year Yaxley told my cousin that if he couldn't get me to go with him, he would take her, as if he ordered her. What kind of a guy does that?"

Sirius and Remus frowned darkly, obviously aware that she was trying to make this more about her cousin than herself, but that she was truly worried for herself.

"Well," said Sirius, "you're going with me, so he'd better not even ask."

"I know, I told Snivelly that I'd be taken by the end of breakfast. That reminds me, you boys had better go about your asking."

With that, James, Remus, and Peter leapt to their feet and rushed off to find their respective girls, not wanting to risk the pre-arranged agreement's strength if some other bloke asked the girls they'd been paired with. Peter was running faster than Olivia knew he was capable of. Almost as soon as they were gone, Yaxley himself plopped down across from Olivia, where James had just been.

"Hello, Miss Cromwell, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." His eyes were menacing and she was terrified, but she didn't want him to know it.

"I know who you are, Yaxley. What the hell do you want?"

"I'll be escorting you to Slughorn's party, so I thought I ought to introduce myself." There was that look again. Sirius growled beside her.

"Actually, Yaxley, I've already asked her and she's going with me, so you can just go find some other poor girl to drag along with you."

The confident smile on Yaxley's face didn't even waver. "She's entitled to a change of mind, Black. And it's a good thing, too. Just think, if I hadn't come along, she would have been stuck with a blood traitor like you."

That was the last straw. "Yaxley, I'm going with Sirius, and you'd better leave our table before I end up doing something you'll regret."

Confusion muddled his features as he realized what she had just said, but his confident smile returned, with a little bit more sneer than had previously been there and he leaned across the table to her. "You may find yourself regretting that particular decision, Cromwell. It would have been so much easier if you had just come quietly. Now you've made things interesting."

And with that, he stood and glided away, pushing a few Hufflepuff first years out of his path. Sirius growled again. "That arrogant jerk; I'd love to teach him a lesson."

"Calm down, Sirius, it was just a bunch of hot air," said Olivia levelly, shoving more toast into her mouth, but she couldn't help but wonder what exactly he had meant. Come quietly to what? What was interesting? She didn't know, but something about the way he had looked at her told her that she wasn't going to like it at all.

/-/

After that, the rest of the term flew by. Many girls were preparing their outfits for the Christmas party, and many boys were trying to secure their dates. Already having a date, Olivia found watching the whole process rather boring. She let Lily pick a dress from her own trunk, since Lily had only brought a few nice things, and this was a very formal occasion.

Lily and Remus were talking much more, and James was going out of his way to be nice to Jiki, probably for Olivia's benefit. Peter and Kiki didn't really talk, but nobody had actually expected them to. Between Olivia and Sirius, however, nothing changed. They had actually thought about pranking the party, but Remus talked them out of it.

So they were all on their very best behavior and the night of the party, Olivia and Lily were frantically getting ready in their dormitory. Olivia had decided to wear blue, which looked pretty good on her, and she had asked Lily to wear green this time, for her eyes. Mary helped them do their hair, which she was very good at, and before they knew it, it was time to meet the boys downstairs.

James and Peter had been sent to meet the Sitzer sisters, but Remus and Sirius were waiting in the common room. Remus took Lily's arm and complimented her, and Sirius attempted to copy this gentlemanly action. He took Olivia's arm and said, "You look great, squirt."

She raised an eyebrow. "Sirius, please, don't try to be overly nice, you're horrible at it."

He looked a bit sheepish and started to mess with his hair, and instead of him leading her out of the portrait hole after their friends, she led him. They met with their other friends a few floors down and all headed down to the dungeons together. When they arrived, the room was mostly full of Slytherins, and there was a pack of Slytherin boys, including that Yaxley and Malfoy, who were standing in the back corner and began to look at Olivia once she came in. She grabbed Sirius's arm a little tighter and he put his arm around her, glaring at them. He didn't let her out of his sight the rest of the time.

For the younger students, the party was just a place to get dressed up and talk, but for the older ones, there was mistletoe and people flirting, teasing, and flat out running away from each other. It certainly made for good entertainment, and Slughorn apparently thought so too, as he would make a joke at this or that student about their date. He particularly liked to attempt to couple up Slug Club members with each other, as though they would breed him future members if the pairings lasted. What a strange man.

Lily did leave them for a while to go talk with Snape, but she came back rather quickly, shooting odd looks at Olivia, like she was some sort of monster. Olivia noticed, but she didn't ask, or even draw attention to it. She acted like she hadn't noticed, because she wasn't sure at this point that she wanted to know what these Slytherin boys were saying about her. She had a feeling, however, that Lily would be telling her tonight whether she wanted to know or not. She could feel herself clutching at Sirius nervously.

His arm around her tightened, pulling her in to a hug and he kissed her on the forehead. "Wanna walk around?" he whispered.

She nodded and he began to walk her around the party, waving to people they knew, but never stopping to talk to anyone. They did pause at one point to talk with a nice girl from Ravenclaw who complimented Olivia's dress, and were about to move around again when she left, but Avery and Lestrange had cornered them before they had the chance.

"Hello, Black. Enjoying your life with the blood traitors?" Lestrange was leering at Olivia, even if he was addressing Sirius.

"Lestrange," said Sirius, hugging Olivia even tighter. "What do you want?"

"I want a kiss from your little friend." His smirk was almost evil. Could one smirk with intentions of pure evil?

Sirius growled at him. "Not going to happen, Rabastan."

Lestrange's smirk deepened. "Ah, but you see, at this moment, she and I are standing under mistletoe, so it is." He took another step toward Olivia, who looked up to find that there, indeed, was mistletoe.

She gulped. It was a tradition, and after all, it was just a kiss. It wasn't like he was going to kidnap her and throw her off the astronomy tower. She didn't move as Lestrange came in closer, but Sirius pushed him back.

"I don't care if you've got a whole field of mistletoe, you're not touching her." He was furious.

"What's the matter, Black?" sneered Lestrange. "Think your little princess can't handle herself, and you've got to play protector for her?"

That was certainly what it seemed like. Olivia knew that Sirius was protective, but this was a tad bit ridiculous, and people were starting to stare at the confrontation now. Sirius snarled at him and pushed him back against the wall.

"No, I think you're an evil person with bad intentions, and it's my responsibility to protect people from the likes of you."

Just then, Lucius Malfoy, the Slytherin prefect, came striding over, smirking at the scene. He stood right were Lestrange had been before Sirius pushed him into the wall and said smoothly, "Twenty points from Gryffindor for fighting, Black." And then he casually glanced at the mistletoe and leaned down, lightly touching his lips to Olivia's. She jumped in surprise and Sirius whirled around, rage flashing in his grey eyes. "And have a happy Christmas." And with a smirk, Malfoy turned the other way.

"Get back here!" howled Sirius. "I'm not finished with you, you get back here!" But Malfoy didn't turn around, and Olivia grabbed Sirius's arm and marched him out of the party. When they were a couple of floors up, she stopped and glared at him.

"That's quite enough, Sirius."

"You were just standing there, you were going to let those filth do whatever they wanted, I had to do something!" He wasn't yelling: it was more like pleading.

"Sirius, it wasn't anything, it was just mistletoe, and I'm insulted that you think I need your protection this badly, that every guy that even looks at me has to be beaten down. Would you have reacted that way if it was James, or is it just Slytherins that put you on edge?"

He glared at her. "I'm just defending your honor, Livia, don't be so touchy."

"I don't need you to defend my honor, Sirius, in fact, I don't want you to! I'm just twelve, nobody's carting me off to force me to marry them; it was just a silly yuletide tradition. I'm going to bed. You can go back to the party or not, but I'd suggest not because I'd rather you didn't lose us any more points over something stupid like this."

And with that, Olivia stormed up the flights of stairs to the Gryffindor tower and up to her dormitory, changed into her sleep clothes and hid under her covers, unable to sleep, but not willing to let anyone know she was awake. She'd rather not chat with Lily about the nights events at all, and especially not in the mood she was in. Mostly, however, her stomach twinged with guilt at how she had just talked to Sirius and the hurt in his eyes when she had yelled at him. She would have to apologize at breakfast, and she was certainly not looking forward to it.


	12. I Always Get What I Want

**December, 1971**

Before she even made it to breakfast, though, she nearly tripped over Sirius, who was sleeping at the bottom of the spiral staircase. He caught her, waking with a start at her yell. Setting her back on her feet, they stood, face to face, but both looking anywhere but at the other. Neither said a word and they just stood there, awkward and embarrassed.

"So," Olivia finally said, "did you really just sleep on the stairs?"

"Yeah," said Sirius, scratching his head nervously.

"But, they're made out of stone. Wasn't that horribly uncomfortable?" Part of her wanted to ogle at him in shock, but she looked at the floor instead.

"A bit, I guess."

"Why did you do it?"  
>"Because," he said, and she looked up to see he was looking at her, finally, "I wanted to apologize."<p>

She frowned. "Apologize for what?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, but you seemed really angry last night, so I thought I ought to apologize. I would have done sooner, but I couldn't get up your stupid stairs."

Olivia nearly laughed, and would have, if she didn't feel the need to beg his forgiveness. "Sirius," she sighed. "Don't apologize. You were being sweet and I was being an idiot. There are times I really can't take care of myself, as evidenced by my dueling mishap earlier. And I guess what I'm trying to say is, thanks for looking out for me."

At first he just stared at her. This clearly hadn't been how he had expected the conversation would go. But then a grin spread across his face and he said, "Of course, Livia, any time."

She grabbed his arm and began dragging him down to breakfast. "Just promise me something, Sirius."

"Anything."

"Don't defend my honor unless there's a serious threat."

"Fine," he said, "but I reserve the right to define a serious threat in any way I so choose."

She groaned, but knew he wouldn't be placated unless she allowed him to, so she nodded. "Fine, whatever, let's just go to breakfast, I'm hungry."

Sirius began to skip, dragging her with him and barking with laughter. "You're always hungry, Livia! Come on, hurry up; let's get the lovely eggs and toast and porridge–"

"Ugh, anything but porridge!"

"Anything, you say? What about Snivellus's hair?"

"I take that back, just don't make me eat porridge!"

"Livia, if I ever should attempt to make you eat porridge you have my permission to smack me into the next century."

"Good, I'll hold you to that."

And they ate breakfast, chattering in that same way, barely noticing that they were two instead of five, happily disregarding the fact that they had just fought only hours ago, the way that young people always do. Quite to Olivia's delight, Sirius did not make her eat porridge, but he did charm a bowl of it to follow Snape around when he entered the Great Hall. Since it wasn't along the line of their usual jokes, he hadn't even suspected them. It probably helped that they weren't pointing and laughing at him, either. Instead, they were happily gobbling toast, and completely ignoring the prank they had just pulled.

When James, Remus, and Peter sat down, James looked over at the Slytherin table with interest. "What's with the grease-seeking porridge?"

Olivia laughed. "Ah, James, that's a new weapon developed by Sirius, here; much more accurate than heat-seeking."

They all laughed. Remus helped himself to some sausage. "I see you two are getting along better this morning."

Sirius shrugged. "We both realized we were being silly and got over it. I bet Lestrange won't be forgetting it soon, though."

Olivia laughed again. "No, I doubt he will. Are the rumors I'm hearing true, Sirius?"

He frowned. "What rumors?"

With a quick glance around them to make sure no one was listening, Olivia leaned in closer and whispered, "The rumors that his brother is marrying that cousin of yours, and that they're joining that pureblood maniac."

Sirius frowned. She knew it would be dangerous to mention his family, but it was an important thing to know. He nodded gruffly. "Yeah, the wedding's sometime next month, I think. Don't ask for an invite, I don't think I'll be getting one either."

She smirked.

"Oh, what a pity, us purebloods really ought to stick together, you know." He glared at her. "Kidding, Sirius. But, really, have you not noticed how weird this is?"

James frowned, buttering his toast. "How weird what is?"

"There's five people sitting together in a group who aren't Slytherins and four of us have exceptionally pure blood. Do you have any idea how rare that is these days?" She bit her toast thoughtfully. "I wonder how often that does happen, even at the Slytherin table. A fair few of them are half."

"Blood doesn't matter," growled Sirius. "It's the kind of person you are, not the kind of blood you've got."

Olivia waved her hand dismissively at him. "I understand that, Sirius, and I agree, I was just commenting on an interesting fact, that's all. Or are you forgetting that one of my best friends is Muggle-born?"

He nodded curtly, the carefree conversation between the two of them clearly over. Olivia hated to admit that while she knew that blood status didn't matter in any real sense and effectively meant nothing as far as ability and all that was concerned, she was quite proud of her own pure blood. She didn't think she ought to go around killing those who weren't as pure as her, or enslaving all of Muggle-kind, but she was proud of her blood. She was a Cromwell. Cromwells were practically wizarding royalty, along with the Blacks, the Potters, the Malfoys… Sirius knew that, but he didn't seem as proud of it as she was, probably because his entire family was raging psychopaths.

"Well," she said. "It's Sunday. What are we going to do?"

The answer, of course, was sit in an almost-dry courtyard while Sirius, Peter, and James played in the snow, and Remus and Olivia finished the last homework of the term for the lot of them. The boys were attempting to make a snowman that looked like Dumbledore, but it wasn't going well. For some reason, every time they attempted that long, crooked nose, it fell off the face and they had to start all over again. They stayed out there, working on their respective projects, until Peter was so cold and wet that he was actually turning blue, and they all went back to the common room to dry off and warm up.

"Exploding Snap?" said James, holding out a deck. Sirius snorted.

"I think I've had enough of unfairly losing for this term, mate," he said dryly. "Try me again after Christmas."

Olivia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think we're all fairly burnt out on that one, James. Got any better ideas?"

James frowned. "No. If you're going to shoot all of them down, why don't you come up with something?"

Biting her lip, she replied, "Well, we could play chess, but that's more of a two person thing, and there's five of us."

"Let's take it in teams!" said Sirius, his eyes lighting up. "Olivia, you and Remus can't be on the same team, you're both too good. So I'll be with Livia, and James, you be with Remus!"

Peter wrinkled his nose. "What about me?"

They hesitated. Peter was awful at chess, and he had no subtlety. Nobody really wanted him on their team, but no one was willing to say it. They just exchanged looks, trying to see who'd give in sooner.

"How about this," said Olivia. "Since James spent a lot of time playing growing up, and Sirius avoided it, you guys take Peter. It evens out average experience."

She could hardly believe that she had managed to say that tactfully, but Peter didn't seem offended, and James and Remus hid their grimaces fairly well. Remus ran and got the game and he and Olivia set up the board. Effectively, it was a game between the two of them, with their teammates as advisors. The game was pretty even, and Sirius had kept quiet, letting Olivia do her own thing. He had probably noticed how frustrated Remus was at all the bad advice his own teammates were giving him. James had played a lot, but that didn't mean he had ever won a game.

Olivia nearly jumped out of her seat, however, when she was contemplating a move which seemed to spell the end for her queen. She was desperately trying to find a way out of it when Sirius had leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Move the pawn forward and you've got him, Livia." She looked at him with surprise. He had a straight, confident expression and she turned back to the board. He was right. She moved the pawn forward, ignoring the sniggers of James and Peter, who thought she had failed to notice the position her queen was in.

"Checkmate," she said. The sniggering halted and Remus looked wildly around the board, trying to find a way out of it.

"Excellent move, Livia," he said. She just shrugged.

"I hadn't even seen it. It was all Sirius!" The pair proudly accepted the begrudging praise of their friends and they cleaned up the game, heading down for dinner.

"Just a few more days and everybody else leaves, and then the real fun begins!" cried Sirius, piling potatoes on his plate.

"What fun did you have in mind?" said Olivia, grabbing the potatoes from him and dishing herself even more.

"Like the best snowball fight Hogwarts has ever seen!" said Sirius excitedly.

"Sounds good, but that's kind of a one-day thing, Sirius. What else can we do?" said James.

"We could throw a party," said Olivia thoughtfully, taking a bite of chicken. "I go' muzk, a' we know–"

"Livia," said Remus, his nose wrinkled, "a party sounds like a grand idea, but please swallow before you describe it, because I can't understand a word you're saying."

She swallowed, grinned and said, "I was just saying that I've got some music, and since we know where the kitchens are, we can get food and drink. I could make some flyers as invites for everyone who's staying, a Marauder's Christmas Party."

James grinned. "That's awesome! We should do parties all the time, if this one goes well!"

"You mean, like, every Christmas?" said Peter, frowning.

"Well," said James, "there's Christmas, yeah, but there's also Halloween, and Valentine's Day, and end of term and…" His eyes glistened with joy of all the possibilities.

"And Boxing Day, and New Year's, and the First Day of Quidditch, and my birthday… Yeah, we get it James. Slow down, tiger, let's just see if this one's any good first," said Olivia with a snort as she grabbed more chicken.

And with that, they began the plans for what promised to be the first major event with the name 'Marauders' attached to it. They were coming out, in a way, to the other students, and it was going to happen in style. Olivia took notes on all their grand ideas, knowing that this could seal their popularity as the most-desired clique in the school. Or, at least start them down that road.

/-/

The next morning before breakfast, Sirius awoke to someone knocking at the door of their dormitory. James got it, as he was up. Peter was still in his bed, groaning at the sound, and Remus was brushing his teeth. The other boys, apparently, were already down on their way to breakfast. Olivia was standing at the door and she strode past James and into the room, holding a piece of parchment.

Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she threw herself down on James's bed and tossed the sample flyer at them. Sirius caught it and held it for the boys to see and they all regarded it with a variety of impressed expressions.

"Hey, Livia," said James, "I didn't know you could draw!"

She shrugged casually, regarding her freshly painted nails with mild interest. "I don't," she said. "I can't draw to save my life. Noemi did the drawing, and I did the charm work." They just stared at the piece of parchment changing colors in Sirius's hand. "If you don't like it," she added, "I can make another one."

"Are you kidding?" howled Sirius. "This is great!"

She looked up from her nails and smiled, proudly. "Good, I really didn't want to ask for another one. You two get dressed and Remus and I will make copies so we can distribute them at breakfast."

Of course, Sirius thought, as he pulled on his robes. Once they had approved of her plan and her input, she was all business, acting like she was in charge. Well, she was a girl, after all, and that was what they did. He had thought Olivia was a different kind of girl, but maybe even different kinds had to be this way sometimes.

They finally made it to breakfast, with enough copies made for every Gryffindor to have their own, and a couple put on the notice board in the common room. Some of the older students tossed it aside, uninterested, but some students were even groaning that they had decided to go home over the break. The most promising thing, though, was everyone wondering who the Marauders were, and how cool they must be to be throwing their own party. It was all they could do not to beam with the pride of their seeming success. That was, until Olivia smacked James and Sirius on the back of their heads for preening in their glory and reminding them that it couldn't be called a success until it was successfully executed and gossiped about after it was done.

After Herbology, which was mostly lecture that day, they found a nice empty classroom to plan in. Sirius had expected that they would dive into planning for the actually party immediately, but Remus and Olivia must have been talking at some point, because they had other things in mind.

"We're a sort of clique now," said Olivia, "so we're officially bound together. We need to have some sort of ground rules."

Remus nodded. "We need a code, something we can refer to in times of trouble, which there are bound to be with the amount of ego in this room, that none of us can argue with. It needs to be our main arbitrator so that no matter what, everything can be solved internally."

Peter groaned. "Do we all have to be involved in writing this code? This sounds a lot like writing laws, and we all know that's not supposed to be easy."

Olivia shrugged. "It's kind of like that, but they're our laws. They don't apply to anyone but the five of us, in theory, so we don't need to worry about that. Of course, some of them may affect others. What do you say? I think especially with the stress of planning a huge event like this, we need to have ground rules."

Eventually, Remus and Olivia had strong-armed them all into agreement and Remus pulled out a blank piece of parchment and a quill. "All right, the Marauder's Code."

"No pranking those who haven't provoked it, unless they're Slytherins," said James.

"No letting anyone outside come between us," said Olivia.

"I would say no girls allowed," said Sirius with a sly grin, "like my brother and I used to do when we made secret clubs, but then we couldn't have our dear Livia over there, so I guess that won't do. How about, no telling each other's secrets without express permission of the person whose secret it is?"

They all knew that was about Remus, or Moony, as Olivia had taken to calling him. With an eager nod, Remus jotted it down.

"How about that we have to protect each other if we can," said Peter.

"And that we have to support each other's decisions ultimately, even if we don't like them," said Remus.

Grudgingly, they agreed to that. There weren't many rules on that little piece of paper. Five rules for five people, but Sirius had to admit that they seemed to cover every possible worst-case scenario.

With that, the bell rang and they dashed to History of Magic, not because they wanted to be there, but more because none of them particularly fancied detention for being late. They agreed to begin real party preparations in the break after lunch.

/-/

Party plans taken care of, and term over, the Marauders got to enjoy each other's company without classes, creepy Slytherins, and the interruptions of other people. It was a nice change. Olivia ran down to the boys' room one morning and started jumping on Remus's bed like a crazy person. He, of course, tried to knock her off, or at least stop her, and their struggle woke up the other boys.

"What the–"

"C'mon, five more minutes!"

"What time is it, anyway?"

"Livia, why aren't you in your own bloody bed?"

She leapt from Remus's bed to the floor and ran across to a random, unoccupied bed as the boys watched her bouncing, bleary-eyed.

"You have exactly fifteen minutes to get your things and join me outside for the most epic snow fight of your lives," she said in a perfectly even tone, "starting… right now!"

With that, the boys scrambled out of their beds, rushing around for their snow gear, pushing each other out of the way to change and brush their teeth. Suddenly, Peter froze, having been beat out by the others for just about everything.

"Wait, what time is it, anyway?"

Olivia grinned mischievously. "Why, it's four in the morning, my dear Peter, I'm ever so glad you asked."

There was a collective groan and Sirius tackled her out of nowhere.

"It's four in the morning, Livia?" His eyes were puffy and aggravated. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Not at all," she replied, pushing him off her, brushing herself off before jumping back onto the bed to resume her bouncing. "We need to have time to have a proper fight before breakfast."

"And why, may I ask, does it have to be before breakfast?" said an irritated James from the bathroom, where he was presumably changing.

"So that we can spend the rest of the day preparing for our fabulous party, bozo, now hurry up in there, we haven't got all morning!"

"No," Remus agreed after spitting out his toothpaste. "We have three and a half hours. Do you really think Peter's going to last three and a half hours in the cold snow?"

"Hey!" cried Peter, who must have decided that to stay in the time limit, he would be better off to simply bundle his snow gear around his pajamas, because there was no way he'd have time to change.

Olivia fell into a sitting position on the bed, a grin on her face. "Oh, of course he will, Moony, dear, because he's our referee. He's off limits for hits. I figure he got more than enough of his share the other day when we got into that fight with those Hufflepuffs. Teams of two are fairer than splitting someone in half, after all."

James came out of the bathroom and sat next to her as Sirius went to change. "So who's on what team, Livia?"

She made an irritated noise. "James, dear, I'm not going to think of everything. You goons have to make some sort of effort!"

Remus dug through his trunk and looked over at them thoughtfully, feeling around for his snow boots. "Well, I think we ought to split you two up. You're both far too good."

James grinned. "I call Sirius!" he yelled, pumping a fist in the air in anticipation of the expected victory. Olivia made another irritated sound. She had intended on snagging Sirius. Ah, well.

"Fine," she said, turning her nose in the air in the most Lily-Evans way she could muster. "Remus and I are a much better team anyway."

"Woah!" said Peter and James at the same time.

"What?" she said worried that she had something on her face.

"You looked just like her!" said Peter.

Olivia frowned. "Like who?"

But she knew who.

"Evans!" said James. "You looked just like know-it-all Evans!"

Laughing in spite of herself, Olivia patted James on the back. "You know, James, you really ought to think about what you call people, dear. You never know who you'll want to like you in the future. Try to be more diplomatic."

He wrinkled his nose. "I don't care what people think of me. Most everyone thinks I'm awesome, anyway." He turned to the bathroom and yelled, "Hurry up, Sirius; we've got to show these sissies what a snowball fight looks like!"

Just then, Sirius threw the door open and moved aside so that Remus could change. "All right, Moony, hurry up, I want to get a move on pelting Miss Livia with snowballs!"

She turned her nose up again. "You would dare hit a woman of the noble Cromwell line, sir?"

He roared with laughter, clutching at his stomach as he doubled over.

"Oh, god, that was good. You made me think of my mother for a moment…. or, no, of my cousin, Narcissa. Oh, that was rich."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, thinking.

"Narcissa… Narcissa Black. Is she that Slytherin fourth year?"

He nodded and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she is. What a prat. Anyway, I'm not too keen on going over my family tree at the moment."

"No, wait," she said, still thinking. "Her older sister isn't here anymore, I think, Bellatrix. There's another one, though…"

He frowned, obviously not wanting to talk about his family.

"Yeah, Andromeda, she's a fifth year, but she's in Hufflepuff. She's not half bad."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, that's right. She's a Prefect, and she's in the Slug Club. Very pretty girl, I think."

Remus came out and saved Sirius from having to further discuss his family. "All right, you lot, let's get this thing over with."

They pranced as quietly as possible down the stairs, knowing that they probably weren't allowed to be out this early before breakfast, and went out the doors, staking out a spot for their epic battle to occur. Olivia set Remus to work on building them some defenses and went straight to work pummeling the other two mercilessly with as much snow as she could find, hardly bothering to ball it up properly.

They boys hardly bothered with defenses. They had assumed that they would be on offense most of time. Olivia thought it a bit conceited of them, but she could hardly fault them. They were good. Remus had built them an excellent line of defense, however, and the boys were having a hard time hitting them. At seven thirty, Peter called the battle for breakfast, and declared Remus and Olivia the winners, since neither of them had been hit, and Olivia had managed to hit James and Sirius multiple times. Sirius tried to argue that he singlehandedly shot down half their wall, but Peter pointed out that the rules of the fight didn't take that into account.

The winners hardly had time to gloat, however, before being greeted with the warmth of the Great Hall and the promise of eggs and toast. As they ate, or rather, as Olivia shoved food down her mouth while she talked and the others watched in amazement, they divvied up the responsibilities for their party, and Sirius commented on how fabulously clear Olivia could speak with her mouth completely full of eggs and toast. She swallowed sharply and painfully and scowled at him as best she could.


	13. Purple Rain

**December, 1971**

They spent most of their time after the party playing games, although less Exploding Snap than James would have liked because there was only so much of his cheating that they could take. Olivia slept in Neil's bed every other night, but insisted that she had to sleep in her own bed on Christmas Eve, since that was where her presents would be delivered.

Christmas morning, she scooped up all her presents in her cloak and carried them down to the boy's dormitory, where they had promised to open them together. She plopped down on Sirius's bed, sitting on his torso, and spreading her presents out in front of her. His grunt when she sat on him woke the other boys, and he glared up at her sleepily.

"Good morning, Sirius, Merry Christmas. I've added my presents for you to your piles."

"What are you doing on my chest, Cromwell?"

She smiled down at him and patted the side of his face condescendingly. "Good to see you, too, Black."

James just laughed and went ahead unwrapping his presents, which mostly consisted of sweets and joke products. The other boys followed suit sleepily, and Olivia informed Sirius that he would have to wait his turn. She wasn't moving until after her own presents were all open. Surprisingly, he didn't argue.

"Fine," he said, "but I'm going to fish your gift out of my drawer her, okay?" She nodded and he reached over to his bedside table and pulled out the drawer, where there was a neatly wrapped present. He pulled it out and tossed it on the pile with her other presents. Then he sat up, causing her to slide down his front and land on his lap, but he didn't make her get off. He just rested his head on her shoulder and watched her open gifts. "Who are they all from?"

He watched her open gifts from her father, sister, and grandparents, and then from Lily, Mary, Noemi, Margery, the Sitzer twins (they gave her a joint gift), James, Remus, Peter, James's parents, and lastly the gift he had tossed on her pile.

"Best for last, I see," he whispered in her ear, making it tickle. He wrapped her up in a happy, sleepy hug and that was when Olivia realized that she was sitting on his lap and all he was wearing were his boxers. Had it been anyone but Sirius, she would have blushed, and might have moved, but instead she leaned back into the hug.

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, love," she whispered back, and carefully opened the parcel. It was a delicate jade bracelet, which she realized perfectly matched the embroidery on the dress she had worn to Slughorn's first party, the one that had been her mother's. She stared at it, opened mouthed, not entirely sure how to thank him. It was incredibly beautiful.

Then, without warning, she turned around and tackled him with a tight hug, practically squeezing him as though he were the almost-empty toothpaste tube. He just laughed and hugged her gingerly back.

"I take it you like it, then."

She smiled at him, and then pulled him into another hug. "I love it. I absolutely love it."

He petted her hair and said, "Okay, that's good. Now move; I need to get to my presents."

With a laugh, Olivia got off Sirius's lap and sat on his bed as he moved to the foot of it, opening his own presents. Remus looked over at her haul and frowned. "Did your dad really send you our prank items for Christmas?"

Olivia touched the half a dozen bottles of shampoo and laughed. "No, he sent me chocolate and a horrible sweater, as well, but he figured he'd save the owl a trip and send it all at once."

"Fantastic," said James. "We can set up that prank tonight, then. Snivelly's going to have a horrible Boxing Day."

"Speaking of Boxing Day," said Remus, flicking a piece of lint off his sleeve, "when's the next party, Livia?"

"Oh, that's right. James, we can't do Boxing Day."

He frowned.

"And why can't we?"

She sighed. "Because, love, we haven't planned for Boxing Day, and there's no one to draw us flyers. Besides, I'm not cleaning that common room two nights in a row, and I'm sure Remus agrees. I think the next one ought to be Peter's birthday."

"That's fair," said Sirius, opening a present from Kurt Neuendorf, whom he had gotten along well with from day one and slept right across the room from him. "That gives us time to plan, and time for Noemi to draw us another flyer."

"Actually," said Olivia, pushing her own gift for Sirius at his nose, "I was thinking of having Kiki Sitzer draw the next one. She's amazing. Have you seen her art?"

"No, and I won't be seeing anything properly ever again if you don't get that thing out of my face. Are you trying to make me cross-eyed?" Sirius pouted at her.

"It might improve your looks," she retorted, but she just tossed it in his lap and he ripped it open.

"Ha, nice one, Livia," said Sirius, fighting uncontrollable laughter. It was a book on the breeding habits of giant squids.

"You'd better appreciate that, Sirius Black, that book took me forever to find."

"I'm pretty sure there's a good reason for that," remarked Remus, but he was ignored in the struggled that ensued between James and Sirius, both in their boxers, over the book about giant squid breathing habits. Olivia was sure she'd never see a scene like this again, and she wasn't entirely sure that was a bad thing.

Peter finished his presents last, mostly because he wasn't as vicious to his wrappings as the other boys were, and they all went to the common room with their sweets to appease James with a few games of Exploding Snap. They practiced their favorite spells and ran through the castle. Olivia kidnapped James and Sirius at one point and they ran through the grounds like mad people, going nowhere in particular. Finally, it was time for the famed Christmas dinner.

Olivia found herself sitting at the single long table set out in the center of the room, since so few people had decided to stay for the break, between Sirius and James, with Remus and Peter across the table beside the professor of Divination, Professor Samuel Pythia, who was a strange, quiet man. He kept looking at Olivia, and Sirius obviously noticed. Olivia swore she heard a soft growl from Sirius as he caught the Professor looking over at her, and she touched Sirius's arm lightly and shook her head.

Sometime during dessert, while Sirius and James set off their fifth collective wizard cracker, Olivia noticed Professor Pythia muttering something to Professor Dumbledore as he looked at her, and Dumbledore was nodding. Olivia frowned and turned to Remus. "Remus, could you pass me some more chocolate cake?"

He passed her another slice and Sirius frowned at her, piling a silly sailor's hat on top of his three other bizarre hats. "What's up, Livia? What's with all the chocolate cake?"

"Nothing," she lied. "I'm just hungry."

James was frowning, now, too. "Then why are you eating cake? There's pudding right there."

She shrugged, still lying. "I'm not really in a pudding mood, boys, all right?"

Remus, James, and Sirius exchanged dark looks. Being in a chocolate cake mood usually meant she was irked about something, like not being in on a prank, or something like that. Remus put some pudding on her plate and knowing it would appease them, she ate it. It's not that she didn't like it, but she wasn't in the mood for lovely foods like pudding. It was a cake day.

A second year Slytherin girl got up to go to bed and Olivia nodded at Remus. The boys took off around the corner, ready to follow the girl. Olivia had made sure James brought the cloak, so they could find the Slytherin common room and learn the password without being seen. She was to stay behind and make excuses should anyone ask after them.

Almost as soon as Remus stood, Professor Pythia scooted over to sit across from Olivia.

"Miss Cromwell?" he said in a deep voice.

"Yes, sir."

"I taught your mother, excellent student. Have you thought about taking Divination?"

She shook her head. "I'm not choosing my non-required courses until third year."

"Well," said Professor Pythia, "I think you ought to keep it in mind. Your mother had a great gift for the subject, and there's no doubt in my mind that you will as well."

She looked at him, a little confused. "How do you know?"

He stirred his hot chocolate wistfully. "It's something you can sense about a person. Anyone can take Divination and do reasonably well, but the Sight… That's a different story. And even the Sight is in varying levels. I'll just say that not taking Divination would prohibit you from enriching your experience here at Hogwarts. It would be a pleasure to have you in my class, Miss Cromwell. Have a happy Christmas."

And with that, Pythia stood and left, sipping his chocolate as he wandered out of the hall, Olivia staring as he left. What an odd man.

Just then, Peter came scurrying back in and sat down. "We've got the gift."

She stared at him, trying to understand what he meant.

"The gift…?"

He nodded.

"The gift that you wanted us to get for you… for your father, we have it."

Then she remembered that this was the code James had thought of for telling her they got the password.

"Oh," she said. "Good, that's great. I'll send it tonight, then. Care for some more pudding, Peter?"

She dished up a healthy helping of pudding for each of them, looking as casual as possible, as though the other three being somewhere else didn't mean preparation for some sort of prank. When they finished, she said, "Well, I suppose it's nearly bedtime, Peter, let's go lose another round of Exploding Snap before we turn in, what do you say?"

Peter nodded and the pushed back their plates, heading up to the Gryffindor common room, first walking swiftly but running as fast as their feet could carry them once they reached the second floor.

"Where is it?" Charlotte asked, gasping for breath as she ran, somewhere around the fourth floor.

"It's down near the dungeons, somewhere under the lake, we think."

"Ah, that fits," she muttered, sprinting all the harder.

When they finally reached the common room, Remus was there waiting for them. He led them upstairs to James's bed where they would begin the execution of their plan. Olivia leapt onto the bed and then hugged her knees to her chest, filled with excitement.

"So we got the password?"

James nodded and Sirius's face darkened. Remus fidgeted a little bit and then said, "Pureblood."

She looked around at the faces, her brow furrowed. That must be awkward for those who aren't purebloods in Slytherin, and she knew they existed. There were rumors going around that this Voldemort, this pureblood supremacist, was actually a half-blood, though nobody had any proof of it. She suspected it was probably true. "Well," she said, watching Sirius very carefully, "I suppose that makes a lot of sense. Do they have a portrait?"

James shook his head. "Nah, it's a bit of wall with a concealed door. It'd be pretty tough to find if we didn't already know where it was."

"No kidding," she muttered. "So, what's the plan? All following him at once, or charm them throughout the day?"

Sirius lit up at this, no trace on his features of his previous brooding. "Ah, I'm thinking we should do it all at once, that way if we get caught, none of the bottles go to waste."

Olivia snorted.

"Please, it's shampoo and I live in a room full of females. None of it will go to waste."

Remus nodded. "I think it's better to do throughout the day, so that it's constantly following him. The charm will wear off eventually."

James grinned. "That settles it, then! Olivia, Remus, Sirius, Peter, who's going down for the initial charm?"

Peter made what Olivia had taken to calling his thinking face and said, "I think it ought to be Remus, Sirius, and Olivia."

James's face fell, but he seemed to agree on some level, because he nodded and said, "Okay, you take the cloak. Peter and I will be hiding on either end of the corridor for support should something go wrong. Okay?"

It was a deal. They finished up a few key details of the plan and Olivia curled up in Neil's bed for a few hours of rest before the operation was to take place.

James's alarm went off at a quarter to midnight and they all climbed sleepily out of their beds, grabbed their wands, and followed James down to the common room. Just before exiting the portrait hole, they scrunched together and James put the invisibility cloak over the whole group.

It was Olivia's first time under the cloak, and it was a surreal experience. Even though no one could see them, they still had to make sure they didn't walk through ghosts, or make sound. They weren't entirely sure if Mrs. Norris would be able to smell them should they come across her, but Olivia certainly didn't want to risk it. By some stroke of luck, they made it to the corridor that held the Slytherin common room without a single snag. James and Peter left the cloak and ran to opposite ends of the corridor, hiding behind suits of armor.

Remus stood in front of the section of wall, Olivia holding his arm and her breath, Sirius right behind her. Remus took a deep breath and said, "Pureblood."

And there was the door. Olivia knew she must have blinked, and she was certainly distracted by Sirius tensing up behind her and grabbing her shoulder warily. She touched her free hand to his in a tender way, trying to calm him, and they snuck into the room that had a strange, green tint to it. It was almost eerie. She wasn't particularly interested in how the room looked, but was more interested in how they were going to find Snape. That, however, ended up being easier than she would have guessed.

At that moment, voices were coming in to the common room, two older Slytherin boys and Snape himself, discussing something in terse tones.

"Don't move from this couch, Snape, all right? Those girls aren't pranking the common room if we have any say in it. If someone comes down here, curse them. Got it?"

Snape nodded and dropped to the couch, pulling an emerald blanket over himself. "Do we know any more about the prank?"

"Not a clue," said the taller of the two boys, "But they're planning something, and those girls can be very crafty. We're going to bed now, night."

"'Night," said Snape, curling up under the blanket.

The three invisible people were standing on the edge of the room, not fully believing their luck. Olivia bit the inside of her mouth, wondering what to do. They couldn't act until he was asleep, and they had no idea how long that was going to take. They didn't want James barging in thinking something went wrong. She looked at Sirius, who was gripping her arm. He leaned over and breathed in her ear, "Do you know any charms to put him to sleep?" She shook her head. "How about something to fix his hearing?" She shook her head again. "You smell good, by the way," he whispered with a wink.

At that, she just gave him an annoyed look that probably looked more amused than she would have liked and shook her head. Before she had a chance to ask either of these questions to Remus, however, Snape began to snore. Olivia decided that his large nose must have acted like a megaphone, because his snores were about five times as loud as Peter's.

Olivia moved forward and the boys followed her. She tilted her head sideways and muttered, "_Purpureas comames_," pointing her wand at Snape's hair, which turned an equally greasy shade of acidic violet. Sirius gasped quietly, erupting with silent laughter. Remus just sighed.

Only three minutes later, they left the common room as silently as they had entered, with a bottle of shampoo charmed to follow Snape around until at least breakfast, where they could charm another bottle or two. When Olivia told James that she had added purple hair to the deal, he was thrilled and almost did a victory dance.

They trailed sleepily back to Gryffindor Tower under the safety of the invisibility cloak, back up the stairs to the boys dormitory, and fell fast asleep. For the first night in a long time, Olivia had only peaceful dreams, with visions of Snape dancing around in her head with hair like a sugared plum. It was a good thing breakfast was only a few hours away, because they were excited to see the fruits of their labors.

Sirius's alarm woke them up with an hour to drag themselves out of bed and go to breakfast, because the boys knew Olivia would want the extra time to get ready. She didn't take the full hour to get ready, of course, like some girls would have. Actually, they spent about half of it dragging her out of bed.

They sauntered down to breakfast with two bottles of shampoo hidden on Olivia's robes and plopped down at the Gryffindor table, ready for their first laugh of the day. It took a little bit of time, but they were enjoying their toast, trying not to look like they expected something to happen. Ten minutes in, James pointed out Snape's greasy head peaking around the entry to the Great Hall, as though afraid to come in.

After obviously deciding not to delay the inevitable, however, Snape pulled his head back, and walked into the Great Hall with as much dignity as he could muster, followed incredibly closely by a bottle of shampoo.

The effect was immediate. Laughter filled the Great Hall, as enough students had stayed over break to make the echoing sound. Olivia slipped the bottles in her possession to James under the table, and James and Remus excused themselves from the hall. They had decided the night before to charm the shampoo from outside the hall, because it would be far too suspicious if the bottles zoomed at Snape from the Gryffindor table. Right on time, the shampoo bottle which followed him to breakfast started to sink in the air, and quickly fell to the floor. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but too soon.

Nearly seconds after the bottle fell, two more zoomed around the corner and into the hall, attaching themselves in orbit around his head like moons around a greasy planet. The roars of renewed laughter were the cue to James and Remus that it had worked, and they waited several minutes before reentering, so as not to be associated directly with the prank. It was a grand success.

Throughout the day, various Marauders found ways to keep the shampoo following Snape, mostly following him under the invisibility cloak. He actually cornered Olivia and Sirius at one point, trying to blame them, but James had actually taken care of that last bottle, so they had a solid alibi. Olivia was just sorely disappointed that Snape had managed to turn his hair back to its typical black. Even Peter seemed let down that it was restored to its usual black greasiness.

That night at dinner, Professor Slughorn questioned nearly every student about the shampoo plaguing his student, and when he reached the Marauders, he hit yet another brick wall.

"Can we help you, Professor?" said Olivia sweetly.

"Yes, I hope so, Miss Cromwell," he said, sitting down next to Peter. "I'm here about Mr. Snape's unfortunate day. You see, he's being followed by a bottle of shampoo."

Olivia nodded, struggling to keep her face serious. "Oh, yes, we saw that, most unfortunate. Have you caught those responsible, sir?"

Slughorn shook his head. "Not yet, I'm afraid. I thought it might have been a hint from a friend, you know, but he insists that it's a prank." Sirius and James shook violently with silent laughter, but Slughorn hadn't seemed to notice. He was focused on his conversation with Olivia. "He added your names as suspects, and he seemed quite sure it was you."

"Yes," said Olivia, "he confronted me and Sirius about it earlier, but as we told him, it couldn't have been us. We were discussing our last lesson with Professor Sprout, sir, at the time he says he had last been attacked by a shampoo bottle, and were nowhere near him. She can vouch for our whereabouts."

"Yes, I thought as much," said Slughorn. "After all, the first bottle was there when he woke up, and none of you have access to the Slytherin common room, but he insisted so I thought I ought to check." He stood and smiled down at them. "Well, always a pleasure, Miss Cromwell, and I'll see you all in class, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Potter, Mr. Posey. Enjoy the rest of your holidays!"

"You as well, Professor!" said Olivia sincerely as he waved goodbye and left their table. As soon as he left the Great Hall, all five of them roared with laughter. They had gotten away with it.

"I'm just glad old Sluggy's the Head of Slytherin," said Sirius, gasping for breath. "He's not exactly the most observant fellow. After all, he still can't get Peter's name right!"

"Yeah," said James, "what all has he called you since we started, Mr. Posey?"

Peter sighed. "Perry, Pederson, Prewett, Pannell, Patino, Pellegrino."

"Ooo," said Olivia eagerly, "I like that one. Peter Pellegrino. That's got a nice ring to it."

He frowned bitterly, "So does Peter Pettigrew."

"True, it's pretty nice as well," she admitted, grabbing more pudding. "To be honest, I've always wished he'd come up with some creative name for me, like Binns does."

"Ah, yes," said Sirius, "The Binns naming system. I've been Mr. Bacon, Mr. Banning, Mr. Bowling, Mr. Bickford, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Barker, and Mr. Bowman."

James nodded. "I've been Mr. Pickle and Mr. Peppers, those are probably my favorites. And poor Peter over there, he's just got so many names we can't keep track of them all. What was it, Patch, Piercy, Pearman…?"

Remus laughed. "Yeah, and I've been Mr. Lutz, Mr. Lehman, Mr. Landers, Mr. Lyles, Mr. Levy, Mr. Lee, Mr. Livingston, among other things. He likes to call on me."

Olivia grinned. "I like Remus Livingston, it suits you. Hmm, well, he doesn't call on me often, but I like Miss Cartwright, Miss Crowder, Miss Cormier, Miss Coulter, Miss Cain, Miss Cooper, and everyone's favorite, Miss Casey."

Sirius frowned. "But he's only called on you twice the whole year, I'm sure of it. I'll bet you made half of those up."

"Maybe I did," she said with a mysterious wink. "But how would you know how many times he's called on me, Sirius? You spend half of that class asleep. I'll bet you wouldn't have a clue which ones I made up!"

They began plans for Peter's birthday that night, and praised each other on their wild success with their complete prank against Snape. "I just hope your dad won't mind all the wasted shampoo," said Peter.

"Well, he can't mind if we don't tell him," reasoned Remus.

"Are you bloody kidding?" shrieked Olivia. "Pulling off my first major prank and not telling my dad? He'd be appalled! He'll be thrilled to know it went to such good use. Who knows? Maybe Snivelly will take a hint and wash his greasy locks."

They looked around at each other for a moment, very serious, before bursting into fresh waves of laughter. Snape would wash his hair the day James married Lily Evans, and Olivia certainly didn't foresee that happening anywhere in the near future.

**A/N: Anywhere where Yaxley is referenced as a third year is INCORRECT. I made a math error, and for future events to happen properly, he's a fourth year. Sorry about that.**


	14. Consequences of Fate or Failure

**September, 1978**

Remus was settling down to a cup of tea when he heard a loud crack in the entry. Someone had just Apparated into his flat. Grabbing his wand and gripping it tightly, he made his way to the entry, prepared for anything. Or so he thought.

The sight of Sirius and Olivia shaking and twitching, Olivia undoing a Disillusionment Charm on Sirius, and both of them sobbing with relief, was not what he had expected. But there was something off about Olivia… something…. Her eyes were blue. Olivia's eyes weren't blue, but Eva's were. He raised his wand to her, narrowing his eyes. He was ready to strike. Eva was a great duelist, but Remus had gotten quite a lot of practice over the years. Whatever spell she had Sirius under, it was probably two on one, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Where's Olivia?" he hissed at Sirius, who was looking at him with confusion and fear. Eva appeared worse for wear, but she was regarding Remus's wand with calm.

"Remus," Sirius said hoarsely, "this _is_ Olivia."

"No," Remus said adamantly. "It's Eva. You're supposed to be with Olivia, and you're not supposed to be here. What happened, Sirius? Where's Olivia? They don't have her, do they?"

"Eva transfigured my eyes," Eva whispered. "I'm Olivia. Ask me anything, Remus. It's me."

Why would Eva do that? Nothing they were telling her made much sense, but she was calm and hadn't moved for her wand. If she could explain, he was willing to listen as long as he was the one at the ready.

"What was our last big fight about before breaking up?"

It was something Olivia would remember, but not something as important as to be worked out of someone under torture. He doubted Voldemort would bother to learn about the ins and outs of their former relationship.

"You said I didn't take my safety seriously enough and I told you I didn't want you breathing down my neck all the time. We ended up screaming at each other in the middle of the lawn. But you were right. You always are. It wasn't really about that, it was about me wanting a change and you fighting to keep me. We both saw the end."

He winced. Even after all those years, it hurt for her to put the truth of the matter so plainly. She hadn't been in love with him anymore and he had struggled to hold on to what he still loved so much. One thing was certain, though, she was definitely Olivia. Remus lowered his wand.

"You were supposed to be on the other side of London. What happened? Why does she look like Eva?"

"We were captured after our last meeting," Olivia whispered. "I don't know how long we were there, but when we woke up they tortured us. He's looking for Caradoc. Anyway, Eva doesn't have a stomach for watching Sirius suffer and she snuck us out."

"Okay," Remus said thoughtfully. "Would you like me to fix your eyes? You're both shaking quite a bit still, and I've got a fairly steady hand."

She nodded and Remus transfigured her eyes back to their usual green. It was less unnerving than having her look just like her cousin. Now that he was at ease that she was herself, he could think more clearly about the situation. They really did look worse for the wear. First he would make them tea and then take them to report to the Order.

"This one's for you," Remus said, handing a cup of tea to Sirius. "This one's for you, Livia."

Sirius's tea had a Calming Draught and a pain relieving potion mixed in. Olivia's was, unfortunately, just tea. From the look in her eyes when she took it from him, she knew. But there was nothing he could do. Even if he had mixed every potion in the world in her tea, it wouldn't have helped her.

They discussed the details of the timeline and discovered that they had been captive for three days. Remus watched Olivia as she sipped her tea, wincing at every one of her pained expressions. She tried so hard to hide her pain, and she was very well practiced at it, but Remus had been paying attention for years. He knew every little change in her expression and what it meant. When he decided they were well enough to travel, they left with hasty goodbyes to report to the Order.

When they left, Remus looked at the cold cup of tea he had made himself before their arrival. He pondered it for a moment, then went to the cupboard, took out a bottle of firewhiskey, and drank several shots before starting in on his cold tea.

/-/

The days went by in a blur: the lot of them doing odd jobs for the Order, eating at various homes of Order members, and every night Olivia falling asleep in Sirius's arms.

One morning she woke up and found herself alone. It didn't register at first, but then she sat up and looked frantically around the room. Sirius was gone.

She didn't bother getting dressed as she dashed from the room, frantically searching the house for him. She found him in the kitchen, his face in his hands. He wasn't crying – Sirius hardly ever cried – but he was clearly distraught. She rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her touch and handed her the morning paper.

The entire front page was covered with reports of death and destruction. Tucked in the bottom left corner was a short little blurb about a family of Muggles, the Kitchens', who had been found dead in their home.

"Oh my," she gasped, dropping the paper on the floor and looking up at Sirius, who was watching her grimly.

"Dumbledore won't be pleased," he whispered. "We'll have to go and make a report at headquarters."

"But how did they find them?" she moaned, running her fingers through her hair nervously. "We did everything possible to cover our tracks. There's no way anyone could have traced them back to us."

"Well, someone did!" he yelled. "This was no random act of violence, Livia; the Death Eaters targeted them specifically!"

Olivia turned to the sink, gripping the edges tightly and feeling a twinge of pain somewhere in the region of her stomach. It was partly guilt and partly shock. Sirius had never raised his voice at her. She fought very hard not to cry, and he must have realized he upset her, because he stood and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling his nose into her neck.

"I'm so sorry. I now you did everything you could. We'll have to go to headquarters after lunch. What do you want to do until then?"

She shrugged and rested her head on his chest.

"I'm hungry," she said matter-of-fact, as though they hadn't just been discussing a handful of murders they were responsible for. Sirius barked with laughter.

"Aren't you always?" he said. He kissed her nose and then busied himself with gathering various foods breakfast. He paused halfway through cracking an egg and grinned at her. "I love how easily you make me smile."

Sirius made a delicious breakfast, as always, and they spent the morning going over their memories of the time undercover. Olivia grew tired of discussing the half-finished mission, but Sirius insisted that they talk it over until it was time for lunch. He didn't want to be asked a question by Mad-Eye or Dumbledore that he didn't know how to answer. By the time he had Olivia thoroughly scrambled in what had occurred, he declared it was time for lunch and that he would make them sandwiches.

It wasn't long before Sirius and Olivia were once again at headquarters, once again reporting on something that shouldn't have happened under their watch. At least this time it wasn't right after having escaped torture. They weren't surprised to find Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, the Prewett twins, and Edgar already waiting for them. Actually, Olivia was a little surprised to find the Prewett twins there, as they weren't really involved in the mission, but they seemed to always know when she would be at headquarters, so it wasn't shocking that they were in the building, at the very least.

"I see you read the paper this morning," Edgar said softly, stirring a cup of tea. "Have a seat."

Olivia followed Sirius into the room feeling very much like a chastised child. The way Edgar was talking to her, the way Dumbledore was bound to talk to her… it was the same way her own father had addressed her when she had done something wrong: soft, sad, and utterly disappointed. She already felt bad enough that a family of five was dead because of some mistake likely made by her, but the weight of Edgar's tone and Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes made her heart sink so low in her chest she was sure there ought to be dementors in the room. Even the twins did not have the usual sparkle of mischief in their eyes. All Olivia wanted was for Mad-Eye to start yelling at her, because all of the somber disappointment in the air was choking.

"As we have discussed before," Dumbledore said softly, "there is a spy in the Order. Olivia, do you feel there were any gaps in your protection of the family?"

"No," she said softly, almost defensively. She was almost glad Sirius had made her go over those memories again. She hadn't been able to find a single mistake. "No, there isn't anything. We checked our memories, Albus. I can't imagine what happened."

"Someone told the bloody psychopaths where to look, that's what happened," Mad-Eye growled. "Somebody is telling them all sorts of things they shouldn't know."

"But why this family?" Sirius said boldly. "There was only a small connection to the Order. What did they have to gain by killing a couple and three small children?"

Dumbledore frowned slightly.

"You know these people better than that, Sirius," he said with a sad sort of smile. "They wouldn't need a reason to kill Muggles, and these ones were familiar to us. It was a message, I think, to Olivia. They're trying to make her feel shaken, unsafe. They have tried this method before, I believe."

Olivia bit her lip and Sirius tensed. Mary. He was talking about Mary's death. It was something Olivia tried not to think about, the hurt still so incredibly fresh. Even though she knew better, she still felt so incredibly responsible. All that blood… those empty, glassy eyes… and the message on the wall… Olivia shivered.

"I don't blame you for any of this, Olivia," Dumbledore continued. "Not then, not now. Blaming yourself will only allow them to win. You know what happens when you let them win, Olivia. We can't have that."

The way he talked about her prophecy, her destiny, what the Death Eaters wanted with her… It was as though she was nothing more than a weapon in the war. She knew that wasn't how he saw her, but it stung just a little bit.

"In any case, I think I will need your help again soon. I want you both to stay very much on alert for now, particularly for Olivia's safety."

Sirius was incredibly tense beside her as they nodded. He was unaware of the prophecy, or at least, the contents of it. Part of her wanted so badly to tell him, but she knew that if things played out the way she thought they would, the way she hoped they would, she couldn't say a word. It was for his safety. If he didn't know anything… well, it was just better that way.

After they were told the meeting was over, Sirius and Olivia stayed with the twins for a while to chat, hear stories about what had been going on in the world outside the order, as neither Sirius nor Olivia had felt it safe to try to integrate into everyday society with how incredibly high they were on the Death Eaters' list. There wasn't much going on, but they agreed to have dinner at Sirius's house the next Friday, if Dumbledore didn't change their plans before then.

Everyone had places to be. That was the thing about the Order: most of them had jobs, lives outside of the fight. The Prewetts had their jobs as Aurors (the world was wondering how they had made it through training without getting fired), and Moody was an Auror; Edgar worked in the Ministry and Dumbledore was… well, he was Dumbledore. Headmaster of Hogwarts just didn't seem to do his work justice. He was so much more than that.

"What are we going to do with our day?" Olivia moaned as they arrived back at his house. "We never do anything."

Remus was busy with something for the Order, Peter seemed more scarce than usual these days and probably for the same reasons, and Lily and James were getting ready for a wedding that Olivia and Sirius wanted as little to do with before it happened as possible. Lily was one of those scary bride-to-bes.

"We could see your father," Sirius suggested. "When was the last time we did that?"

"When I moved out," she laughed. He was right, it had been too long. They gathered up a few things and Flooed over to the Cromwell Manor, which had been specially connected to the Potter Manor and Sirius's house as soon as Olivia had started spending more time at those places than she had at her own home. Peter Cromwell was paranoid about his eldest daughter's safety, as was everyone around her, these days.

Anne-Claire was at school, so they went straight to the study, sure that Olivia's father would be there. Of course, he was, his nose in a book, newspapers scattered all over the desk, scribbling notes on parchment without looking at it as he read.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Cromwell," Sirius said with his stuffiest pureblood voice, and Olivia couldn't contain her giggle as her father jumped, his quill blotting his parchment.

"Merlin, Sirius," her father sighed, "you'll give me a heart attack! I'm not as young as I used to be, you know. And how is my favorite couple?"

Her father truly did look older. He was years younger than the Potters, but he looked almost as old as them now. When Olivia had been at the start of school, you could tell they were from different generations. Now, she never would have guessed that her father was any younger than the people she had always looked at as grandparents, of sorts, especially after her own grandparents passed.

"Now, then," Peter Cromwell, former civil servant extraordinaire, "why don't you two have a seat? I would ask if you've been keeping my princess safe, Sirius, but I imagine she's already been tortured at least once. She's got a knack for getting herself caught, doesn't she?"

"Father," Olivia groaned, but they all laughed. Her father had told her long ago how important it was to laugh in times such as this. He must have known, even then, the sort of things she would experience. It was more than possible that her mother had been through much of the same types of things.

They had tea, and Sirius and Olivia inquired after her father's health and life in retirement. He had lots to say, of course, and he said it all with his typical nonchalant air that he was so beloved for.

"I can't say it's not a bit lonely without Anne-Claire here, but the pair of you was away plenty of times when you were in school, so I reckon I can handle myself. Anyway, how is that wedding those two crazy friends of yours are having going?"

Olivia and Sirius both winced, which caused her father to laugh loudly.

"Ah, yes, young love. I suspected that Lily would be a difficult bride. She's a nice girl, but a bit… high strung."

Sirius snorted.

"That would be an understatement, sir," he said. "Lily's absolutely barmy, but James never listens when I tell him so."

"No, I can't imagine he would," Peter Cromwell chuckled. "I never listened much when my friend told me how stuck up Aindora was, just as I'm sure you didn't listen when people told you Livia wasn't worth the trouble."

Olivia frowned. Was this really what boys sat around discussing? Was her mother actually stuck up?

"Actually," Sirius said softly, lacing his fingers into hers, "my friends all knew Livia was worth any trouble that came our way. Marauders are good about that."

She felt a rush of affection for Sirius. It was then that she realized how little she told him that she loved him. Putting on a smile so he wouldn't see her thoughtful frown, she decided then and there that she had to change that, that she had to tell him every day how much he meant to her. She knew it couldn't be, wouldn't be too long before she couldn't say it anymore, and he had to know, he had to understand that she loved him.

He lifted their entwined hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently, a gesture he had done quite a bit within the company of others since they had been together again. She knew he was insecure that she would leave him, that someone would steal her away from him. Olivia could smell the love and affection radiating off him in waves and for a moment, her heart broke as she realized how much it would hurt him when she was gone.

Peter Cromwell watched them with his politician's face: friendly, positive, but utterly blank and devoid of emotional reaction to the world around him. Olivia could smell his pain, though. But he knew what had to happen, he understood. Sirius… Sirius would never understand. It was all she could do not to shed a tear on the spot.


	15. Yaxley Strikes

**January, 1972**

The first week of January, the other students returned to Hogwarts on the school train, signaling the start of winter term, the continuing of classes, and the return to life as it was before break. This meant several things for Sirius. Firstly, it meant that Olivia wasn't sleeping in his room nearly every night, which was kind of nice, because it meant he could change in plain sight and nobody cared, but at the same time it meant he couldn't help her with her nightmares. He was worried they would get worse now that things were back to normal.

It also meant that he had homework, classes, and other various things to do, making pranking more difficult. At least, proper pranking, and not getting caught and put in detention. The other thing that it meant, of course, was that they had less than a week to get Peter's birthday plans sorted out.

The first week back, on Tuesday, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts first thing. Professor Finderbauker was in fine form, going on about the theory of basic defensive charms. Olivia looked as though she was about to fall asleep. She had been screaming in her sleep again. Sirius had heard some fifth year girls talking about it over breakfast. The circles under her eyes were almost frightening.

He nudged her and she jerked her head, eyes popping open before glaring at him. Sirius scribbled on a piece of parchment, _Are you okay? You're dozing off over there._

Olivia glanced down at the parchment and shrugged. She scribbled back, _I'm just tired, Sirius, no big deal._

He frowned and wrote, _It is a big deal, and we're talking after class, whether you like it or not._

She just sighed and settled back into her chair, barely listening, and teetering on the edge of sleep for the rest of the period. During History of Magic, she actually did sleep. Sirius didn't bother her, though, because he slept as well. In fact, almost everyone, except Lily and Remus, slept in History of Magic.

During the break, however, Sirius grabbed Olivia's arm and yanked her from the shuffling crowd and into a broom closet, shutting the door. They sat there awkwardly for a moment before she said, "Um, Sirius, why are we sitting in a broom cupboard?"

He sighed. "Because, it was the first thing I could find, now talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," she said, irritated. "So I'm having nightmares. That's no big deal. Lots of people have nightmares."

"Not many people scream in their sleep every night."

"It's not every night," she snapped.

He sighed again and hugged her, hitting his head on a mop. "Olivia, please, let me worry about you. I know something's wrong."

She shrugged, but nuzzled into the hug. "Sirius, please, I'm fine, really. We're wasting time that ought to be spent planning Peter's party. It's probably just some sort of reaction to my dueling accident."

That was possible, and Sirius hadn't thought of it. Perhaps this was some sort of lingering effect of the curse Snape had used on her. He wondered if Snape had invented it himself; Madam Pomfrey had never seen it before. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I just want to know you're okay, Livia. We worry about you, all of us, but I'm the light sleeper, and I'm the one who hears you at night. It's scary to know that every time someone's screaming bloody murder, it's you, and I can't do anything for you."

"What was it like," she whispered, "when I was cursed?"

He hugged her tighter, mildly irritated at how dusty the broom closet was. He hated having all that dust in his eyes, and he was worried she would think he was crying. "It was so scary," he whispered back. "You were screaming and twitching all over the place. It was like someone was torturing you. And I didn't know if you were in actual pain, or what was going on, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I don't know how long James and I actually sat there, but it felt like weeks."

"I'm sorry I'm scaring you, Sirius," she said, "but please, try not to worry. They're just nightmares, I promise. No one's hurting me. When you hear me screaming, just think of nice things, okay? Promise you'll not worry until I say something's wrong?"

He wanted to say no, Sirius didn't want to make any such promise. But her voice was so small and pleading and he just wanted everything to be better. He didn't know what else to do, so he said okay, and they just hugged each other tightly in that broom cupboard until the bell rang for Charms and they rushed off to Professor Flitwick's classroom.

James and Remus gave them a questioning look, and Peter opened his mouth, probably to ask where they had been, but Sirius just waved his hand to dismiss them and Olivia ignored that anything out of the ordinary had happened. They took their usual seats for Charms and looked up at Professor Flitwick expectantly, as though they had been there for full minutes, waiting.

"Miss Cromwell," said Professor Flitwick, "please tell us about the theory of the Cheering Charm."

Sirius didn't listen to her answer. He was too busy watching her as she answered. The circles were still under her eyes, and there was still tiredness about her. She still seemed stressed and upset, but her manner was otherwise completely normal. Olivia had her usual smile, her eye held what was very near to its usual sparkle, and her voice was strong, confident, and pleasant. If he didn't know that she screamed in her sleep nearly every night, he would never have guessed that something was wrong. How did she just go on like nothing was happening?

When they split up to practice Cheering Charms, Olivia paired with James, perhaps to avoid more questions from Sirius, who ended up paired with Peter, but Sirius watched them work. He also noticed that Remus was watching her as well, worried, from his partnership with Lily Evans. Remus and Lily got the charm mastered fairly quickly and Sirius watched Lily lean over and whisper something to Remus. He whispered back and then she said something else, something that took a bit longer to say, and his eyes widened, and he shot a quick, worried glance at Olivia. Sirius would have to ask him about that later.

Lunch couldn't have come sooner, as far as Sirius was concerned. He was so distracted that his Cheering Charms had only succeeded in making Peter erupt in tears of despair. Needless to say, it wasn't his proudest Charms moment, and Sirius was mentally berating himself all the way to lunch about not listening when Olivia had been describing the theory.

"So," said James, as he sat down at the table for lunch and reached for a sandwich, "have you got the fliers worked out, Livia?"

She nodded, already swallowing the last bite of her first sandwich. Sirius blinked. Where had it gone? Hadn't she just sat down? "Yeah, almost, Kiki has this grand vision, but she's going to give me the draft at dinner so you guys can approve it."

"Excellent," said James. He swallowed. "Remus, what are we doing in Potions today?"

If Sirius hadn't known any better, he would have thought Olivia had flinched when James said Potions. Nobody else seemed to have noticed, but then, Remus didn't look up from his plate as he replied, "We're going over the horrible mistakes people made on the essays before the break, I believe. Apparently most of the class hasn't got a clue in what order ingredients are supposed to be added in. You would have thought that basic potion theory would have sunk in at this point."

"I think that was mostly Hufflepuff, though," said Sirius thoughtfully. "I mean, we have a couple of people in our class who are really bad, but for the most part, Gryffindor and Slytherin have the most talented Potions students in the year."

No, he hadn't imagined it. Olivia had flinched at Slytherin and Potions; there was no doubt about it. She must still be worried about the behavior of the Slytherins, and that was probably what her dreams had been about. It probably even had something to do with what Lily had told Remus in Charms. He would have to ask him about that, now for sure.

They had decided that the break would be reserved for party planning, and James and Olivia traipsed off to the kitchens to request food services of the house-elves for the big night. Peter had asked to stay out of the planning as much as possible for this round, and that seemed only fair, as it was his birthday, after all. Besides, he wanted to reread the material for Potions, as he suspected that his essay was one of the ones which were particularly bad. It wasn't his best subject.

Remus and Sirius ended up in an empty classroom, where they were supposed to be talking about music. They were sort of left to it by default, though music was Olivia's specialty, and any decisions they might make would have to go through her. The problem was, she also was the expert on food, and she couldn't do six things at once, particularly with the amount of sleep she was getting.

Sirius dove right into it.

"What did Lily tell you during Charms, Remus?"

Remus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I saw her whispering something to you and you looked over at Olivia with quiet the look. What was it?"

He shook his head. "It was nothing, Sirius, don't worry about it."

"Oh, really?" said Sirius. "Nothing, Remus? Then why won't you meet my eyes? Why didn't you look at Olivia during lunch? Why is she flinching every time we mention anything to do with the Slytherins?" Remus didn't acknowledge that he was evening listening. "Remus, she's not sleeping, and when she does she screams bloody murder nearly every night. If she's gotten a decent night of sleep since the train came back, then I'm a doxy egg. Something's clearly wrong and since she would like to pretend that nothing's the matter at all, which she's alarmingly good at, by the way, I would have hoped that the sensible one in the group would like to discuss with her friends what the problem might be so we can help her!"

There was a tense silence. Remus didn't meet Sirius's eyes and Sirius glared at Remus's forehead. These games were pointless, they were silly, but for whatever reason, whatever was wrong, everyone just seemed to want to pretend nothing was happening, as if that ever fixed anything.

"It's not for me to say," Remus said finally.

"How did Lily know?"

"Snape told her."

Sirius froze. What did Snape know?

"How did Snivellus know?" Surely Olivia didn't confide in him.

"Apparently, from Malfoy and Yaxley."

So this had to do with why the Slytherins were being so odd. Did Olivia even know?

"So this has everything to do with the Slytherins. Remus, what the hell is going on?"

Finally, Remus looked up and met Sirius's gaze. "If I knew that, I would tell you, but part of me isn't even sure I want to know."

What had Lily said? Before Sirius could press him for more information, James and Olivia skipped into the classroom, happy looks on their faces.

"The house-elves are compliant as always," said Olivia. "Break's almost over, though, so we'd better go get our things."

Sirius wandered back to the tower, and down to Potions, trying not to let his mind wonder to over-fantastic possibilities of the situation at hand. He and James had that same fault, and he suspected that Olivia had it as well, where when they didn't know something they came up with the grandest possibilities, good or bad. In this case, things were very, very bad.

Exactly as Remus had said, the entire class was a lecture on their essays. Sirius tried a couple of times to pass a note to Olivia, but she ignored them. He even tried to toss one at Lily Evans, but she didn't look at it, and probably though he was just throwing bits of paper at her. The glare she sent him discouraged him from trying again.

At dinner, Sirius looked up at the Slytherin table to find Yaxley leering over at them, and he assumed at Olivia. The look he gave Sirius was like a twisted sort of smirk, and Sirius wanted so badly to hit him, but instead grabbed a slice of chocolate cake.

Olivia frowned. "Are you all right, Sirius? You look…"

"What?" he snapped. "Tired? Scared? Stubborn? Oddly happy for the amount of screaming being done on the middle of the night? Because that would make two of us, Livia!"

She stared at him for a moment, her eyes wide with shock, and Remus kicked him under the table, but it was too late. She tossed down her fork and stormed out of the Great Hall. Sirius had seen tears forming in her eyes.

"Nice," said Remus. "If she ever talks to you again, you'll be lucky."

Sirius knew Remus was right, and he picked dejectedly at his chocolate cake, not even noticing that Yaxley had left the hall not long after Olivia stormed out. He probably wouldn't have known, if not for the screams.

At that point, Sirius would have known that scream anywhere. He, Remus and James immediately jumped to their feet, and Remus hollered back to Peter to get a teacher as they ran out of the hall, hoping to find her before something awful happened. They ran up the marble stairs and just outside a girl's toilet, they saw Olivia, screaming and pinned to the wall by a furious-looking Yaxley. Sirius barely noticed, though with some satisfaction, that there was a vivid red slap mark on the side of the Slytherin's face.

"Olivia!" yelled Remus, as he ran over, attempting to peel her attacker off of her.

"Now, now, Lupin," said the boy, "don't interfere with what doesn't concern you. I don't recall inviting you boys to this little party."

Something in Sirius snapped as he and James rushed over to help Remus. He saw the fear in Olivia's eyes and he bit Yaxley's arm. The Slytherin's howl probably drew more attention to the situation, but he let go of Olivia with the shock and she scrambled out of his grasp, sliding to the floor.

Of course, at that time, Professor McGonagall came around the corner with Peter scrambling after her, and she didn't miss the fact that Sirius had bitten Yaxley, or that James was bludgeoning the Slytherin on the head with his fist.

"Mr. Black! Mr. Potter! What on earth are you doing to Mr. Yaxley?"

Sirius found himself wondering hazily why it was that McGonagall was always the one to find them when they were doing something that probably wasn't within the scope of the rules. It struck him as rather unfortunate.

"Professor," said a small voice from the ground.

Olivia had propped herself up on the wall. There was a bruise forming quickly on her face, and Sirius thought he saw smaller, finger-sized bruises around her neck. She looked weak and rattled, and her voice was shaky.

"Professor, please, they were helping me. Yaxley came at me and was hurting me. And then when Lupin tried to separate him from me, he hit him."

Professor McGonagall must have seen the bruises, because her eyes were rather wider than Sirius had ever seen them, and her eyebrows must have disappeared somewhere under the brim of her hat. "That's all very well, Miss Cromwell, but biting other students, Mr. Black, is completely unacceptable."

"Yes, Professor," he said numbly. He wasn't sure that bludgeoning them on the head was acceptable, and attempting to strangle them certainly wasn't, but he wasn't really in the mood to point that out.

"And Mr. Potter, I assure you that your behavior is also only marginally excusable. Ten points from Gryffindor, twenty from Slytherin. You will each receive detention." Remus sighed from his spot on the ground. "Not you, Mr. Lupin, or you, Miss Cromwell. But you three," she said, motioning at what she must have thought were the criminals of the group; "you will be serving detention." She turned to go, but paused and looked back and said, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, I'm very much hoping that you don't make such a habit of this. You have seven years in Gryffindor, and I'd rather not be taking points from you at every turn. Mr. Yaxley, come with me, I'm going to see you to Professor Slughorn."

James rushed over to Remus and Sirius to Olivia, and Peter just ran over to the group.

"You bit him, Sirius?" said James with a terse laugh. "What in Merlin's name were you thinking?"

"I wasn't," admitted Sirius, "but he let go of Livia. You, I might add, were bludgeoning him on the head, so I'd rather you didn't moralize."

James just laughed, "Oh, you misunderstand; I think it's wonderful that you bit him, but I'm a little worried that you'll be picking up some diseases. It's not the safest or most sanitary form of attack. If you feel strange within the next twenty-four hours, let me know so I can avoid you, okay?"

They all laughed weakly and Sirius sat down next to Olivia, hugging her as she cried into his chest. Closer, he could see that her bruises were quite pronounced already.

"Shh," he said, petting her softly. "It's okay now. You're safe now. What happened, Livia?"

She just shook her head wildly against him, crying and shaking. Nothing he did calmed her down. Remus crawled over and said, "We ought to get you up to Madam Pomfrey, get those bruises healed, Livia."

Olivia looked up at him, eyes wide with shock. "Bruises? No, no, he'll be mad. He'll come after me. Please, no, Sirius, please!"

She grasped at Sirius tightly and he hugged her closer. "Shh," he said. "Come on, Livia, please. You don't want him to win. If we don't get those healed, he wins."

But they couldn't get her to move for a very long time. The four boys just huddled around her as she cried into Sirius's chest and muttered incoherent things, shaking uncontrollably. They exchanged dark looks over her head and then, without saying anything, Remus jumped to his feet and took off down the stairs. A few minutes later he returned with Lily Evans, who looked at Olivia with something like pity in her eyes.

"Oh," she said, bending down and petting Olivia's hair. "Livia, please, come with me. I'm not going to hurt you. Come on." She held out her hand to Olivia, who stared at it a moment before slowly reaching out for it, hand shaking, until her finger tips reached Lily's and Lily clasped her hand around Olivia's shaking one.

Lily and Sirius lifted Olivia to her feet and led her to the infirmary, while the other boys followed. Olivia still wasn't saying anything and she was crying profusely. Lily didn't make eye contact with any of the boys and simply patted Olivia's hand as she led her along.

Madam Pomfrey looked at the group and sighed. "Why is it I feel like I see so much of you all? What happened this time?"

Remus pulled her aside and whispered something to her as Sirius and Lily led Olivia to a nearby cot and sat her down, hugging her tightly. Madam Pomfrey came over, nodding.

"Well, then, let me see," she muttered. She looked at the bruise on Olivia's face and the ones forming around her neck with an even look that Sirius suspected was forced. "Nothing too bad, dear, I'll have you out of here in no time at all."

She flicked out her wand and waved it lightly, muttering something Sirius couldn't hear. As she worked, the bruises faded rather quickly until they were no longer visible. With a nod she said, "All done, dear. The spots might be a tad tender for an hour or two, but they'll be right as rain in no time at all. You're free to go."

Remus and Lily thanked Madam Pomfrey and helped Olivia up, leading her out of the infirmary and presumably off to Gryffindor Tower. James and Peter followed, but Sirius stayed behind, sitting on the cot and looking down at his hands in his lap.

"Is there something on your mind, Mr. Black?"

He nodded and looked up at Madam Pomfrey.

"Yes, ma'am, she's not sleeping well."

"Miss Cromwell? I had heard something about that. Do you know what's wrong?"

He shook his head. "No, she won't really tell me. All she says is that she's having nightmares, but she screams in her sleep almost every night. She won't talk about it. Could it be some sort of lingering effect of the curse from last term?"

Madam Pomfrey looked at him with her head tilted slightly and lips pursed, thinking. "It's possible, but unlikely. When did this start?"

He frowned. "I don't really remember. It was some time before Christmas. It may have been in November."

"But it wasn't right after the release from the hospital wing?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then, Mr. Black, I don't think that's it. Now, if she won't accept help from you, I doubt a sleeping potion would help, since she won't take it. If I don't know what's wrong, though, if she won't submit to an examination, then I'm afraid I can't be of much more assistance. If it gets much worse, though, I would suggest mentioning it to Professor McGonagall and perhaps she can require her to see me about it. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, Mr. Black."

He nodded and stood. "That's okay, Madam Pomfrey. I'm sorry too."

And with that, he left the infirmary and shuffled off to Gryffindor Tower, not really paying attention to where he was walking, wondering what he could do to help Olivia, whether she wanted help or not.


	16. The Rules of the Female Mind

January, 1972

That night, Olivia didn't sleep at all. Kiki had given Mary the flier at dinner, since she couldn't find Olivia, and Olivia had Mary take it to James. She didn't want anything to do with anyone at that moment.

She hadn't touched her books, but she knew Remus would find a way to get everyone's work done. Olivia didn't want to talk to Sirius. She didn't want to talk to James. She didn't want to talk to Peter. She really didn't even want to talk to Remus, but at least he seemed to realize that. Sirius had sent four girls up after her, and she sent them all away. He didn't want her to scream in her sleep? Then she wouldn't sleep.

Lily sat down next to her. "Are you going to bed soon?" Olivia shook her head. "I didn't think so. They care about you, you know. I didn't realize it before. I didn't understand why you would want anything to do with those jerks, but despite all their faults, they really do care about you." She petted Olivia gently. "When I saw Sirius with you today, I didn't realize it was him at first. He was being so sweet."

Olivia said nothing. She knew Lily was right, but she didn't care. She was angry at them, she was scared of the Slytherins, and she was terrified of falling asleep and having to deal with all of this when she woke up the next morning. Part of her wanted to have Lily pinch her and realize it was all another nightmare, but she knew it wasn't. When people hurt you in nightmares, they never leave marks.

"What do they want with me?" she whispered, so softly that Lily barely heard her.

"What, love? Who?"

"What do those Slytherins want with me? Why won't they leave me alone? It's bad enough they won't leave me alone when I'm awake, but why do they have to hurt me when I sleep too?"

Lily didn't say anything at first. She simply looked at Olivia, lips pursed together, thinking. She moved onto Olivia's bed and rested her back on the headboard, setting Olivia's head gently onto her lap and stroking it softly.

"You have incredibly soft hair, you know, Livia. It's beautiful."

Olivia sniffed in response.

"I think, maybe, there's something about you. I don't really know, so it's hard for me to explain, but you know that pureblood supremacist?" Olivia nodded. "Well, Sev said something about you and your sister and your cousin, and how the Slytherins were saying that they heard their parents talking about this guy talking about you three, but especially you, something about your bloodline."

Olivia looked up at Lily, eyes wide.

"My bloodline? What?"

Lily shrugged. "I don't really know. Sev didn't say much, but I don't think he knew much more than that. Some of them were told by their parents to keep an eye on you, to try to monitor the company you keep. He said something about making sure you were on the right side."

With another sniff, Olivia rested back on Lily's lap.

"The right side of what? What does it mean?"

Sighing, Lily shrugged again. "I don't know, Livia, or believe me, I'd make it all disappear. It's all kind of scary for me, too, because I don't know what's going on. I don't know if they'll hurt you, or if this is harmless, but either way, I don't like it."

"Me either," muttered Olivia, and she fell asleep just before Lily did, but there was no screaming that night.

/-/

Sirius turned over in his bed, noticing that James and Remus weren't asleep yet either. Peter's snores confirmed that at least one of them was fast asleep. James motioned the other two to him and they both crept over to his bed, where Sirius closed the hangings around them.

"What do you think Yaxley was doing?" whispered James so softly that the others could barely hear him.

Remus squirmed, but didn't say anything.

"C'mon, Remus," breathed Sirius, "Livia's safety is at stake here. You can't just withhold information, it's not right."

With a reluctant nod, Remus said, "I know, I was worried it might come to this. I think he may be punishing her for her friendships."

"What?" whispered James and Sirius.

Remus quickly explained what Lily had told him in Charms, though everyone knew there had to be more to the story. "So I think he was punishing her for not being on the right side."

"The right side of what?" said James.

"I don't know," said Remus biting his lip. "But it could also be about who her friends are."

"What do you mean?" said Sirius. "Olivia pointed a while ago that we're all purebloods."

James shrugged. "Yeah, but we're pretty much all blood traitors. And maybe it's not about us. Maybe it's about Evans and MacDonald. They're Muggle-born."

"So what do we do?" whispered Sirius anxiously.

"Leave that to me," growled Remus. "Yaxley will never know what hit him."

James and Sirius stared dumbly at their friend. Was Remus really volunteering himself to exact revenge? Was he really taking it upon himself to break rules, even if it was in defense of a friend? Sirius thought for a moment that the world was about to split in half, but nothing happened. They just returned to their beds and fell asleep, as though nothing unusual was happing.

When he woke up the next morning, Remus was nowhere to be found. He didn't ask James if he'd seen him leave, because James looked just as confused. Sirius decided it was probably better to not know.

They went down to breakfast, and while Olivia sat with them, she didn't say a word. Sirius buttered her toast as a peace offering, and she ate it, but she still didn't say anything. Remus was still nowhere to be found.

Remus did turn up in Herbology, however he gave no explanation for his disappearance, and they worked in fours, so Remus joined Olivia, Lily and Mary. Kiki Sitzer took pity on the boys and joined them.

"So, what did you guys think of the fliers? Olivia hasn't said anything to anyone all day."

James shrugged.

"The fliers were great, Kiki, but we don't know what's up with her. Well," he corrected, "we do know what's up, but we don't know how to fix it. Remus said he's going to, but he hasn't said anything to us either."

She nodded knowingly. "Well, I'm really glad you liked the fliers. Is it okay if I ask a favor in return? I could do your fliers for the rest of the year, kind of as a deal. It just occurred to me last night."

They looked at each other, considering. It couldn't be a bad favor, as Kiki was probably one of the nicest girls to ever be brought into existence. It would almost certainly be more dangerous to agree to give Olivia a favor without knowing what it was, first.

"Sure," said Peter. "What is it?"

She blushed. "Okay, I feel kind of weird asking for this, but it's for my sister."

"Yeah?" said James. Sirius didn't think this was so bad. They were both nice girls. How bad could it be?

"Yeah, well, she's got a crush on one of you, and she'd be so excited if I could set her up."

There was an awkward silence. They were twelve. Sirius wasn't sure he wanted to know who she had a crush on, but he was willing to guess it wasn't Peter.

"Um," said James, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "who is it she has a crush on?"

Kiki's eyes darted around the room quickly to make sure nobody else was listening before leaning in and whispering something none of them could hear.

"Sorry, Kiki," said Sirius. "You're going to have to be a little louder."

"Sirius," she mumbled.

"Yes?" he asked.

"No, no," she said, turning redder with every second. "Jiki's got a crush on you, Sirius, and she'd be so happy if you asked her out."

He stared at her a moment, not entirely sure that he heard her correctly, but judging by Peter's holding in of his laughter and James's look of relief, he had heard her exactly right. He thought about it for a minute. Jiki Sitzer was a very nice girl. She was smart, she was funny, and she was cute. There really wasn't a downside to it, except that he really didn't know her all that well.

"Um, if it doesn't work out, you'll still do fliers, right, just as long as I give it a shot?" asked Sirius, hoping he didn't sound as nervous as he was.

She nodded vigorously. "Of course, I love doing the fliers. I wouldn't ask at all if it didn't mean so much to her. She'd be so thrilled."

He shrugged. "Okay, I guess it's a deal then."

Sirius was shocked when she gave him a tight, excited hug. "Oh my gosh, Sirius, thank you so much. You're such a great guy."

"Don't mention it," he said, pushing her off of him as his friends began to snigger and other groups looked over at them with curiosity. The rest of the lesson, thankfully, was quiet.

During the break, Olivia ran off with Lily and Mary, and Remus disappeared again, so Sirius and James were left to organize their plans for the party alone. The day went along like that, and at lunch, Sirius gave James and Peter a resigned look and wandered over to the Ravenclaw table. He looked around frantically for familiar faces.

"Hey, Kelly!" he said, sliding down next to Kelly Briles and Ashley Fawcett. "Have you seen Sitzer?"

Sirius might have been wrong, but he was fairly certain they were giggling at him, and he almost thought Kelly was batting her eyelashes at him as she answered. "No, I haven't. Come to join us for lunch, Sirius?"

Trying not to show his confusion, he shook his head. "Sorry, no, I just need to ask Jiki something. Oh, there she is, nice talking to you!"

And with that, he stood and dashed over to the entrance of the Great Hall, where Jiki was walking in with her nose in a book. That was the only way he could tell it wasn't Kiki.

"Jiki?" said Sirius, moving the book gently out of her face. She stared at him, open mouthed and nodded. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Um, okay," she said breathlessly.

"Would you like to go out with me?" The words felt strange and awkward in his mouth.

Her jaw dropped even lower and her eyes widened more than was probably safe. "Like, on a date? Like as your girlfriend?"

"Um…. Yeah. Like that."

She nodded excitedly.

"Of course!"

"Um, great, I'll let you know when I've got a date figured out, okay? Should be sometime this week."

"Of course!"

"Great, I'll see you!" he said. "I've got to go help with party plans and everything."

"Of course!" and then she scurried off to the Ravenclaw table to sit with Briles and Fawcett, who he couldn't help but notice looked far less happy for her than friends ought to look, considering how obviously happy she was.

He sat down next to Peter and James smirked at him from across the table. "So, Mr. Black, how does it feel to have a girlfriend?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, she just kept saying the same two words over and over again. I don't know what to do with a girlfriend. We're twelve. What do twelve-year-olds do on dates?"

"They keep their hands to themselves, make small talk and complement each other," said Lily, who sat down on the other side of Peter. "Remus wants to know what time your detention is tonight."

James frowned. "It's at eight, why?"

"Don't ask questions," she snapped. "It's not important. Anyway, Olivia's not really mad at you guys, she's just traumatized, so don't take her behavior like some sort of rejection. She ought to be her old self soon enough."

Was Lily trying to be helpful? Sirius wasn't sure.

"Um, thank you?" he said, giving James a puzzled look.

"You're welcome, Black." She got up to leave, but turned around after a few steps. "Oh, and one more thing, if you do anything to the Sitzer girl, expect to be missing fingers and toes when you wake up one morning. No second chances, Black."

And with that, she left. Sirius swallowed.

"Do you think she really knows how to do that?" he whispered, worried.

James shrugged. "She didn't actually say she'd use magic, so yeah, I'd say she does. Don't worry about it. Be nice to the girl and you'll keep all your digits."

Peter, however, didn't think it was something to be taken lightly. "I dunno, James. Girls are funny like that. Sirius being nice in our minds could mean something completely different to girls. I'd sleep with a knife, Sirius, just in case."

Sirius nodded. "Thanks for the advice, Peter. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." His voice sounded a bit thinner than he would have liked, and James was certainly finding the whole thing incredibly entertaining.

"You know," said James, "her little friends looked a bit put out when they heard. Maybe you've got heartthrob potential, Mr. Black."

Groaning, Sirius glared at James. "Don't even joke, Potter, this isn't a laughing matter. I'm making a nice girl happy as a thank-you to another nice girl who's helping us out a lot. That's all."

James sniggered and nodded in a feigned solemn way. "Whatever you say, Black, but I expect a wedding invitation."

Sirius flicked some potatoes at James and sighed, but there was nothing he could say. There was no point really arguing about it. They had bigger things to worry about, like Peter's party and Olivia's apparent breakdown. Not to mention, whatever the heck Remus was going to do to Yaxley for revenge.

James woke him up when History of Magic was over that afternoon, and Peter and James were the only other people left in the room. They hurried back to the common room and finalized the plans for the party, pending Olivia's approval.

At eight, they served a nondescript detention, but when they got back, Remus, Olivia, Lily, and Mary were the only people in the common room. Peter walked down the stairs with a big grin on his face seconds after they got in.

"What happened?" said James as they looked around at all the smiling faces.

Lily laughed. "Remus got back at Yaxley."

"What?" said Sirius. "You did it when we couldn't be there? Remus, how could you?"

Remus shrugged. "I'm sorry, but it goes back to plausible deniability, and I figure you guys did your part already, hence the detention. I'm not sure what I did is anywhere near as good as your biting him, Sirius."

"WHAT?" shrieked Mary. "You _bit_ him?"

Sirius just shrugged. He could have said it was an accident, but that wouldn't have exactly been the truth so he just let the girls think what they wanted.

"So," said James, "what did you do?"

Olivia hugged Remus's neck and nuzzled her face into his chest. "Moony cursed him. His head blew up like a balloon. And the Hufflepuff girls who were leaving the hospital wing when he came in said that Madam Pomfrey had to squeeze it so the air came out his ears."

Lily nodded. "She apparently could have made some holes to let out the air faster, but that would supposedly have made it even more painful."

Everyone was laughing, although Sirius couldn't help but feel a bit like he had been replace. He was the one she nuzzled, and now she was cuddling with Remus like that was just what she did with everyone. He knew it was silly and that the Marauders were all equal. It was nothing, but he did feel a bit put out. Oh, well, he had a girlfriend now, so it probably would be a bad thing to cuddle with another girl, even if it was just Olivia. Girls could be weird about that stuff.

Now that Olivia was in a better mood, however, James ran by her all the plans they had made while she wasn't speaking with them and she approved all of them, except the music selection, which she scrapped completely and said she'd have redone by the morning.

"By the way," said Olivia, turning to Sirius, "I hear you're now dating a very special Ravenclaw girl."

He groaned in response and she just laughed.

"All right," she said, "sit down."

He frowned at the couch.

"I would, Livia, but there's no room on the couch."

"Ah, right," she said, and she shifted so that she was sitting on Remus's lap. It was all Sirius could do to keep his jaw from dropping to the floor, and Remus seemed to be having the same predicament. No jaws were dropped, but Remus's ears were so red they were almost purple.

Not wanting to comment on something Olivia obviously thought was nothing, Sirius sat in the now-empty seat.

"Now, then," she went on, "I know and understand the circumstances. How do you feel about her?"

Sirius shrugged. "She's nice. She's smart. She's funny."

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "that'll do to start. Compliment her. Tell her if she looks nice, but don't sound surprised, or she'll think you mean she usually doesn't. If she says something funny, laugh, but not if it wasn't meant to be funny."

"How can you tell?"

Olivia bit her lip. "Maybe you ought to make the first date her eating dinner with the group, so you've got some cues to go by."

"That sounds like a great idea," he said thoughtfully.

"Okay, and a heads-up, she's not the only girl in our year with a crush on you, so things could get ugly."

"What? Who has a crush on me?"

Lily, Olivia, and Mary started throwing out names.

"Kelly Briles."

"Saundra Vine."

"Ashley Fawcett."

"Carlene Jun."

"Tara Schawecker."

"Catriona Walburn."

"Eva Morecomb, of course."

"And some Gryffindors, but we can't mention those. We have a dormitory oath."

Sirius blinked. "Did you really just name about eighty percent of our year?"

Mary nodded.

"Well, the girls, anyway; there may be some boys with crushes on you, but those would be harder to find out about."

He grimaced. "Thanks, MacDonald. That made it all better." The others laughed, as if this was something to laugh about, but it really wasn't. "Wait, so you're telling me that I'm dating a girl whose best friends also happen to have a crush on me?"

The girls nodded. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

"But that's not a big deal, right?" asked James.

Lily snorted.

"Of course it's a big deal. It's like a betrayal to her friends; she just doesn't realize that they like him because they haven't told her."

James still didn't seem to understand.

"But let's say that we all had a crush on… No, not Livia, that'd be too weird. Peter, pick a girl."

"Don't drag me into this, James!"

"Fine, Mary, pick a girl."

Mary grinned. "Lily."

"Fine, let's say that Remus, Sirius and I all had a crush on Evans. And let's say Evans asked me out. It would be Remus's and Sirius's duty to be happy for me, even if they were secretly furious inside."

Olivia shook her head, "Besides that absolutely never happening for so, so many reasons, girls don't work like that, James. Boys have their honor, but honor amongst girls is something totally different. If it doesn't work out with you and Jiki, even if you two end up on good terms, Ashley and Kelly aren't allowed to date you unless they have express permission from Jiki. She'd probably grant it, and Kelly would probably ask, but I don't think Ashley would."

"This wouldn't be a problem if you were dating Kiki. Hufflepuff's are different," Mary added.

"Woah, woah, woah," said Sirius. "You're putting the cart ahead of the horse here. I'm just dating Jiki. Nobody said anything about me ever dating either of her friends, all right?"

Lily shrugged. "When you enter this dating world, these are the sort of political decisions you have to consider, though. Everything has implications for the future."

"So how long would I have to wait to ask one of them out if Jiki and I break up?"

"At least a month."

"And even then I still might get turned down?"

"Maybe."

"So I'm guessing having dinner with her friends is a bad idea."

"Most likely."

"But her sister doesn't have a crush on me?"

"Not at all."

"Why not?"

"She likes some Hufflepuff."

"Which Gryffindor likes Sirius?" said Peter, in a causal tone.

"Margery."

As soon as Mary said it, her hand snapped up to cover her mouth with horrified shock. The other girls' eyes widened and they all seemed rather horrified and embarrassed.

"Peter!" cried Olivia, rounding on the asker of the question.

"What? You may have a duty to keep those secrets, but it's my duty as Sirius's friend to find out all the information."

She couldn't argue, obviously, but the girls were still rattled at Mary's unintentional outburst and they excused themselves for bed, Olivia whispering thanks in Remus's ear before climbing off his lap and going up to bed with her friends.

"So, Remus," said James, dropping down on the couch next to Sirius, "what was that all about?"

Remus blushed but he said, "What was what?"

"Olivia sitting on your lap," said Peter.

"That was nothing," said Remus, though he was turning redder with every word. "She sits on Sirius all the time."

"Yeah," said James, "and that's nothing. When she sits on Sirius, he doesn't turn five shades of red."

Remus tried to look less embarrassed, so of course he ended up looking even more embarrassed. "Look, she was just thankful that I dealt with Yaxley."

"Uh-huh," said Sirius, making it clear that nobody, including Remus himself, believed a word Remus was saying. "Anyway, did he know it was you?"

"I don't think so," said Remus. I borrowed the cloak while you were out, James. I just told the girls where to be so they could see it, and otherwise they wouldn't have known it was me either. I figured Livia needed the laugh."

Remus described the event in full detail several times before all talk of Remus's embarrassment was long forgotten, and they finally grew tired and went to bed, glad that Professor Sinistra had decided the skies were too cloudy for Astronomy that night.


	17. Valentine's Day

**January/February 1972**

Other than the fact that all the older students were asking when the next Marauder party would be so they could put in on their calendars, Peter's party was only different from the Christmas one by decoration and the number of people in attendance. Olivia was happy and smiling genuinely, and for the first time since term had started, Remus and Sirius didn't seem worried about her.

In fact, about halfway through the night, Sirius grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the dancing during a slow song, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning in to say, "Hey, wanna dance?" with a wink.

Olivia rolled her eyes and said back, "Don't you have a girlfriend, Black?"

He shrugged. "It's just a dance, Livia. Speaking of, what's the deal with you and Moony?"

What was he talking about? As far as she knew, there was nothing with her and Remus, unless this had something to do with their pairing up in Transfiguration lately.

"What are you talking about, Sirius?"

"Ah," he said, "your face is alight with genuine confusion. Well, then perhaps you don't know your own power."

She laughed. "What power would that be, Sirius?"

With a shrug, he replied, "The power to make a certain Mr. Remus Lupin blush madly when your name is mentioned and tense when you touch him. Oh, and of course that power to make his eyes glue to you whenever you're in the room."

What was he rattling on about? Remus didn't notice her like that. Or did he?

She looked over to where Remus was helping tend the refreshments with James, and he turned his head sharply, as though looking away and there was certainly a hint of crimson flushing his cheeks.

But the crimson must be from how hot the room was, or from the lighting perhaps. And maybe someone had called his name, or caught his attention suddenly, which would account for the sudden head motion. That must be it.

"Whatever, Sirius," she said. "Don't worry, there's nothing going on. You're imagining things. I love all my boys equally."

He smirked and leaned in as the song ended, whispering softly in her ear, "I wouldn't make a bet on that one, if I were you."

And then without another word, he kissed her softly on the cheek and walked away to relieve James from watching the food. Boys were such strange, strange creatures.

Olivia had wanted to through a Marauder party for Lily's birthday, which was at the end of January, but she knew that even if the other Marauders didn't outvote her, which they would, Lily would never agree to it, so Olivia settled for a typical birthday with gift-giving and a small, friendly singing of "Happy Birthday" in the common room.

They did, however, decide to have a party for Valentine's Day, and if Olivia had thought she was in charge before, she was even more in charge now. In fact, the Marauder's parties had generated such a buzz that the Head Boy and Girl had asked if they would be willing to throw a school-wide bash for the lovey-dovey holiday. Of course, they said yes.

"Aw, you'll get to bring your girlfriend, Sirius!" said Olivia, squishing his cheeks like he was a five-year-old.

"Actually," said Sirius, "since this is a date-bringing occasion, I think you and Remus should go together.

She frowned. "Actually, I was thinking of setting up either Lily or Mary with Remus, and then Peter with the other, or with Kiki, and I was going to go with James."

Sirius shook his head. "Nope, I'll get James to take Mary and Kiki will go with Peter if I ask nicely. I'm pretty sure Lily's already agreed to go with Snivellus."

Her jaw dropped. "Wait, are you saying you've already arranged this?" He nodded and she squished his cheeks again. "Aw, ickle Sirikins is growing up! He did it all by himself, without my intervention! I'm so proud."

He laughed. "Yeah, that's if I can make Remus pluck up the courage to actually ask you."

"Hmm, yes that does present a problem," she mused. "Well, then, I suppose you'll have to get it done fast or I'll ask James and your plan will be ruined."

It didn't take long after the look of panic lit up his face before Sirius rushed off to find Remus and set his plan in motion. Olivia laughed as he took off, pleased with herself.

That feeling didn't last long, however, because she turned a corner and found herself surrounded with Slytherin fourth and fifth years. Yaxley and Malfoy were leading the pack. She tried to get around them, but they wouldn't let her by, and Yaxley backed her up to the wall.

"Hello, princess," he whispered, smirking.

"Wh-what d'you want?" she stuttered, hoping she didn't come across as scared as she was, but knowing her hope was pointless.

"You know what I want, pet," he said. "You're going with me to that party you Gryffindors are throwing and you'll be a good little pet and do as I say."

"I-I a-already–"

"No you don't," he said smoothly. "Lucius overheard your conversation with Black. You don't have a date yet, so you can't use that excuse this time. I'm your date, understood?"

She tried to slip past him, tried to get away, but he pushed her hard against the wall.

"Don't make me get forceful, princess. I wouldn't want to spoil the moment."

A few of the boys snickered, and she was sure the fear in her eyes wasn't helping her case.

"No screaming this time, Cromwell," said Lucius. "I'll silence you if you even think about trying."

Her head was spinning and her vision blurred at the corners and tears began to form. She didn't know what to do.

"Is there something I can help you boys with?" said a familiar voice from behind the Slytherins.

They parted and Olivia saw the face of the Gryffindor prefect, Frank Longbottom. He looked at her and frowned. "Twenty points from Slytherin. Yaxley, you stay, the rest of you, clear out." As the others turned to leave, he grabbed Lucius's arm. "Don't think I'm not reporting your part in this, Malfoy. Too many of these instances and they'll take your badge. Your daddy can't pay to keep your spot as a prefect."

Malfoy sneered at him, yanked his arm free, and stormed off. Yaxley had backed away from Olivia now, no doubt thinking of some sort of excuse for having her backed up against the wall in tears.

Longbottom frowned at him. "I know about your incident, Yaxley, trying to strangle Miss Cromwell. Too bad Black's not around to bite you again. Heaven knows we'd all appreciate that. Report to your Head of House for what I'm sure will be another detention. I'll be checking in with him, so if you don't, I'll know about it."

Yaxley's sneer matched Malfoy's almost exactly, but he turned and brooded off toward Slughorn's office. Frank put a hand on Olivia's shoulder.

"Are you all right, Cromwell? What did they do this time?"

She shuddered. "I'm okay, thank you. Yaxley was trying to force me to be his date for the Valentine's Day party, but I guess that was all he wanted. I'm okay, really."

He made a sound not far off a growl and glared off in the direction Yaxley had left. "What a piece of dragon dung. Watch out for him, Cromwell. He may not have done anything yet, but he's capable of some bad things, I know, and he seems to have developed a fixation on you. I wouldn't go to that thing alone, if I were you."

She nodded. "I won't be, one of my friends is supposed to ask me. We're planning it, you see, so…"

"Ah, yeah, I forgot about that," he said. "Great party for Pettigrew's birthday, by the way; are you guys in charge of the bash for the post-game if we win, too?"

Olivia laughed weakly. "I can only plan so many events. Someone else will have to pick up the slack on that one."

"Are you sure you're okay? I can walk you to the hospital wing, to McGonagall, whatever you'd like."

Shaking her head, she said, "No, I'm really fine, thank you, but… Well, if you don't mind could you maybe walk me back to the common room?"

With a friendly smile, he offered his arm and said, "I would be delighted."

As if Olivia wasn't already stressed enough, on top of planning the school-wide party, hyping herself up for the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match just days after, and keeping up with all her schoolwork (not to mention, Sirius's and Peter's schoolwork), now she had to watch her back for the Slytherins again. She didn't tell her friends what had happened, but she was fairly certain that's what Frank was doing when he walked over to Remus and James, who were working on James's Transfiguration essay near the fire. They looked up at her with surprised expressions and she felt herself feeling rather self-conscious.

Within about five minutes, all the Marauders knew about the recent attack by Yaxley and the Slytherins and Sirius didn't have to push very hard before Remus came up to her and said, "Livia, will you please go to the party with me?"

She said yes and then ran up to her room, holding back the tears until she collapsed on her bed. Mary, the only other person in the room, rushed over to hold and pet her and Olivia allowed her to, but she barely noticed she was there. There was really only one concern on Olivia's mind: How would she keep from sleeping tonight? She couldn't afford the worried friends so close to the party date.

The night of the party finally came and the girls were all getting ready in their dormitory. That was, all of them but Noemi, who was already done and had run off to find her date, who was a second year Hufflepuff. Margery was bouncing on Olivia's bed while Olivia and Lily were looking for dresses in Olivia's trunk.

"Does Sirius ever talk about me, Olivia?" said Margery, flushed from the jumping.

Olivia shook her head as she pulled out a pale pink tiered dress. "No, Marge, I'm not sure he could even point you out in a crowd."

The girls ceased her bouncing and flopped onto the bed.

"Really? Is that why he's dating that Sitzer girl? Do you think he could even tell her apart from her twin if they were in the same House?"

With a shrug, Olivia slipped on the dress. "I don't know, Marge, but they're not, so it's not really an issue. Could you zip me up?"

"So, could you put in a good word for me, with Sirius?" said Margery, tenderly handling the zipper.

Olivia sighed. "He's got a girlfriend, Marge, so no. Besides, what's your obsession with Sirius, anyway? You've never even talked to the boy. Why do you like him?"

Margery fell back onto Olivia's bed and sighed. "He's dreamy, Livia. He's so cute!"

With a snort, Olivia put on some lip gloss. "He would object to being called cute. Cute suggests that he's some sort of stuffed animal, or fluffy in nature, and he'd like to be thought of as tough and rugged. I would suggest not using the word cute in his presence, particularly about him, if you ever want a shot with him."

The love-sick girl gasped and hugged Olivia tightly. "Do you really think I've got a shot, Livia?"

Olivia sighed. "If I say yes, will you leave me alone and get dressed already?"

"Yes."

"Then, yes, now go on, shoo, I don't want to deal with your silliness all night."

Margery went off to find her dress and Olivia shook her head in amazement. Why all these girls were suddenly gaga over Sirius was beyond Olivia's capacity to understand. He was a nice guy, and funny, but these girls never really saw the best side of Sirius, and yet they were all over him like butter on toast. Maybe it was the family fortune.

Olivia strolled down the steps to the common room where Sirius, Remus and James were waiting for her and Mary. She frowned at Sirius. "Aren't you supposed to meet your girlfriend?"

He shrugged. "She told me to just find her at the party. Peter's picking them up."

"Sirius!" said the voice of Margery from the stairs. "I didn't expect you to still be here! You look dashing."

Olivia almost died of laughter as he blinked at her. "Thank you."

With a great laugh, Olivia allowed Remus to take her arm, and laced the other through Sirius's, dragging him out of the common room before Margery threw herself at him.

"You'll have to forgive Marge, Sirius; she's a little excited about you."

Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh, that's Margery. What's she so excited about me for?"

With a shrug Olivia replied, "Believe me, if I knew, this whole fan club you've got brewing wouldn't be such a mystery to me."

"Sirius has a fan club?"

Remus laughed. "Well, the Marauders have a fan club, actually, but I think most of them are eyeing Sirius, yeah, especially since you keep proclaiming your undying love for Lily."

Mary and Olivia laughed and Olivia could have sworn James blushed slightly.

"But I'm the one with the girlfriend," reasoned Sirius. "Why are they all after me?"

With a huff, Olivia elbowed him. "Stop asking me questions, dear, I haven't got a clue. I feel I've already said that. Trust me; girls are just as much a mystery to me as they are to you."

"Not quite," reasoned James. "After all, at least they'll try to share their secrets with you. They're all mum with us."

"Yeah," said Sirius with a solemn nod. "Living along the forbidden stretch of the staircase must give one some sort of knowledge that we don't have access to."

Mary was certainly enjoying this conversation. "Oh, boys, don't worry, we're really not that complex, I promise. If you ever have questions, direct them at me. I'm excellent at translating girl. I was the only one on my street, growing up."

When they reached the Great Hall, where Peter had started the music that Olivia had arranged and people were already starting to eat and dance, Sirius unhooked his arm from Olivia's and the Sitzer twins approached, Jiki in an ocean blue dress and Kiki in a teal one. Sirius smiled at Jiki and said, "You look cute."

Olivia kicked him.

"I mean pretty."

She kicked him again and instead of correcting his mistake, he turned and glared at her.

"He means you look beautiful," she said. "Sirius just isn't great with words."

Jiki smiled. "Thank you, Sirius, Olivia."

A strange, blond Ravenclaw boy came up and asked Jiki to dance. She looked to Sirius, who nodded with a smile, and then took his arm, taking off for the dance floor.

"Why did you put words in my mouth, Livia?" he demanded when Kiki had left to find Peter.

She sighed and fiddled with his hair, trying to sort it out. "Because, Sirius, it was the polite thing to say. Did you even comb your hair before we got down here?"

Ignoring the question, Sirius fumed, "But I don't think she looked beautiful, I think she looked cute. You look beautiful, there's a difference."

With a tut of impatience, Olivia gave up on Sirius's hair. "Sirius, darling, that's lovely of you to say, but when you go to things like this, you use the stronger words no matter how she looks. She looks nice, so you would say beautiful. And you would _not_ use the word for a girl other than your girlfriend, and that goes for pretty much the entire time you're dating."

He shook his head, undoing what little she had managed to do with his shaggy mane. "I give up. This girlfriend stuff is so much harder than it's worth." Then he got a mischievous glint in his eye. "Hey, Remus, you and Livia should dance, man!"

Remus was stuttering out reasons why he couldn't, but with a laugh, Olivia took his hand and led him out onto the dance floor. A slow song came on the second they reached the dance floor, as slow songs have a tendency to do, and Remus appeared to have turned six shades of red in about five seconds. Laughing at his obvious lack of comfort, Olivia took his hands and wrapped his arms around her waist before wrapping her own around his neck.

"Nervous, Moony?" she whispered with a laugh. He turned a couple more shades of red, but didn't answer.

"Hey, Cromwell, Lupin!"

They turned and saw Frank Longbottom dancing nearby with a Hufflepuff prefect. Olivia waved.

"Hey, Longbottom! Your date looks lovely!"

He grinned. "I'd say the same for you, but that would be a bit weird, so I'll just say it's a nice upgrade from your other option."

They both laughed and Remus wasn't amused.

Frank nodded. "Yeah, Yaxley's got two weeks with Slughorn. Detention with him is never fun, whether you're in the Slug Club or not. There's just nothing fun about cleaning up the Potions ingredients."

Olivia laughed, "Oh, so true. Although, it's a nice change from McGonagall's disappointed looks. She has this look that she saves just for us that just reeks of disappointment, and it made us feel guilty for about a week until we just got numb to its power."

The pair laughed appreciatively and the Hufflepuff girl said, "Well, you guys sure know how to throw a party, so you can't be all bad."

"Oh, I'm fairly certain McGonagall couldn't care less about our party-throwing skills," said Olivia.

Remus smiled. "It's really nearly all Olivia. Our parties would be nothing without her."

It was her turn to go a dozen shades of red, Olivia just knew it. Thankfully, the song was over and they returned to the group. Jiki and Sirius still hadn't danced. Olivia was just about to reassure her friend, say that dancing wasn't his thing, and then berate Sirius for not asking his girlfriend to dance when he grabbed her arm and pulled her out to the dance floor for the next song.

"Sirius, you haven't danced with her yet, have you?" said Olivia as she began to dance with Sirius, putting her hands on his shoulders to not get parted with him in the wave of people who were crowding the dance floor to dance to the up-tempo groove.

He put his hands on her hands and shook his head. "I wanted to dance with you on this one. I asked her if it was okay before I grabbed you."

She laughed and he held her hands and then twirled her a bit. "Well, you didn't ask me, which was rather rude of you, Sirius, darling."

Quickly spinning her in, he said loudly over the music, "Would you like to dance, Livia, dear?"

"Oh, but of course, Sirius, I thought you'd never ask!"

And with that they returned to their original stance with Olivia gripping Sirius's shoulders to not get lost in the tide of people. When the song was over, she leaned in and said, "Now go ask your girlfriend to dance, or I won't be speaking to you for the rest of the night. Okay?"

Olivia danced with James, and tried to dance with Peter, but he wouldn't let her. Sirius obeyed orders and danced with his girlfriend the rest of the night. After dancing with James, Olivia danced with Remus the rest of the night, when he was willing to dance, of course.

Toward the end of the night, an unwanted visitor joined their group. Rabastan Lestrange strolled over, looking rather greasy and proud of himself, and Olivia particularly didn't want to know why. She gripped Remus's hand and turned her back as he approached, gripping her drink and pressing it tightly to her lips. Sirius also noticed the newcomer and dropped Jiki's hand, joining the other Marauders with a frown on his face.

"Lestrange," he said, stepping between Rabastan and Olivia's back. "What do you want?"

Olivia couldn't see Rabastan's face, but she could hear the sneer in his voice as he said, "Well, I didn't come over here to talk to you, Black, so if you'd just move…"

"I don't think so," said Sirius bitterly. "I thought you would have gotten more than enough trouble at the Christmas party, Lestrange. That's what I do to people who bother sweet girls."

Olivia turned around, sensing the fight building. "Sirius, please, don't…"

She wrapped her fingers over his shoulder and crouched behind him, but held him back.

Remus put his hand on Sirius's arm and said, "What do you want, Rabastan?"

As though just now realizing Remus was there, Rabastan turned his sneer on him and said, "I'm here for Cromwell. This is between me and her. Move, Black."

"You say you're here for her," said James, "like you're going to kidnap her and take her away. What do you want with her, Lestrange?"

The sneer curled. "I don't really see how it's any of your business, Potter. Cromwell's a big girl. She can handle herself." He turned his glare back to Sirius. "She doesn't need an over-groomed ape for a bodyguard."

Olivia was sure Sirius was about to lunge at Rabastan and she squeezed his shoulder and looked over it. "What do you want with me, then? I'm right here."

He grinned evilly at her and said, "Just a dance, Cromwell."

Remus tensed and Sirius was making a soft growling noise in his throat, but Olivia knew Lestrange wasn't going to leave if she didn't comply unless Sirius put him in the hospital wing, and that wasn't the best way to end a perfectly good party.

"Fine," she said firmly, stepping out from behind Sirius and giving his horrified face a pointed look. "If it'll keep Sirius out of detention for now, there's no harm in that."

Sirius looked like he was ready to spit fire when she took Rabastan's arm and allowed him to lead her back to the dancing. Remus and James just looked grim. And of course, a slow song came on again, just as they always seem to do, and whatever one could call the sickening look on Lestrange's face deepened.

Before Olivia could react, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer than she had danced with Remus. She glared at him but his expression didn't waver. He leaned his face in toward hers and whispered, "I'm here to pass along a message, Cromwell."

Trying to seem calm, Olivia said, "What would that be?"

He pressed his mouth right up to her ear and whispered very softly, "Be careful where you step, little one. Don't anger the wrong people, or you won't like the results."

Olivia wasn't sure what made her want to cringe more, the fact that Yaxley was using Lestrange as his errand boy or the message itself. She looked around the people dancing, trying not to seem frantic. Just four people away was Yaxley, his arms lazily wrapped around Eva Morecomb but his eyes intently locked on Olivia Cromwell. When he saw her look at him, his lips curled into a satisfied smirk and she suddenly felt the urge to run away.

Somehow, she managed to keep herself composed until the end of the song, and then Olivia ran back to her friends and hugged Remus, clinging to him fearfully, not daring to look back and see if Yaxley was still watching her. Remus's eyes were dark with worry.

"Livia, what's wrong?"

Not wanting to worry the boys, she put on her best smile and said, "Nothing, I just missed you, that's all, silly," and kissed him on the cheek. "Now, can you do me a bit of a favor, Moony? Can you supervise the cleanup of the music? I don't want Peter or Sirius breaking anything. They're not gentle enough. Thanks."

And she turned to hurry off without a second glance. When Olivia reached the second floor, she heard footsteps following her quickly and she panicked. Yaxley was following her. She picked up speed, not wanting him to hurt her, but the boy pursuing her caught up to her easily. Collapsing in tears, Olivia turned to find that the boy following her, the arms that wrapped around her to break her fall, was James.

The concern in his eyes was unmistakable. He hugged her tightly and petted her hair. "What's wrong, Livia?"

She shook her head, trying to laugh through her obvious tears. "Nothing's wrong, James."

"Don't lie. You're too good for lies." He cradled her gently as she broke into powerful tears. "Is it about Lestrange? Is that who you thought was following you?" She shook her head. "Yaxley, then?"

Olivia looked up at James with wide, anxious eyes. "Please, don't tell Sirius. Nothing actually happened, he was just watching me."

With a heavy sigh, James shook his head. "He doesn't want anything to happen to you, Livia. We're worried about you. We have to protect our little sister."

She wrinkled her nose. "You do recall that I'm older than both of you, yes?"

Shrugging dismissively, James replied, "Maybe, but you're still the smallest, so you can be our little sister in that sense." He gave her another quick hug. "C'mon, let's get you back to the common room before someone sees you like this. That would be tough to explain away. Besides, you need to rest up. We've got Quidditch this weekend."

Heaving a great sigh, Olivia allowed James to help her to her feet and herd her back to the common room, where he allowed her to brood on the couch for a full ten minutes before insisting that she go to bed. Wearily, she climbed the stairs, entered her dormitory, peeled her dress off, and fell into her bed, closing the curtains around her forcefully and falling into a deep sleep.

If she hadn't screamed that night, it would have been a nice night, overall. But, as it was, she did scream and when Lily woke her up at three in the morning, Olivia knew that Sirius would be on her case all day. There was no hiding her fear from him, no matter how badly she wanted to and it drove her crazy.


	18. I've Got A Secret

**February, 1972**

Sirius went to breakfast the next morning looking like he had lived through a natural disaster. His hair was completely disheveled, his clothes looked as though they had been slept in and there were circles clearly forming beneath his eyes, giving him a sunken, hollow sort of look that was almost haunting. James, Remus and Peter knew that Olivia had screamed again, so they didn't ask him what was wrong, although James was giving him this strange, pitying look.

When Olivia walked into the Great Hall, Sirius's jaw dropped. Not only did she not look ragged, not like she had lost a night of sleep once again, but she looked absolutely wonderful. She was smiling brilliantly, her hair was perfect, as always, her clothes were neat and her eyes, while tired, still sparkled wildly. When she sat down across from him she looked and him questioningly before helping herself to some eggs.

"What's wrong with you?" she said calmly and almost pleasantly, buttering her toast.

Sirius wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her, to smack her across the face, anything to keep her from lying to herself and everyone like this. Something was wrong with her and she just went on like nothing had happened, like she hadn't woken half of Gryffindor with her shrieks. Instead his grunted and said, "Take a wild and crazy guess."

She frowned at him. "I'm fine, Sirius, if that's what you're insinuating. Don't look like a drunkard on my account."

He just shook his head and stared at the food on his plate, not even bothering to poke a fork at it. Sirius would never understand her. Olivia could just sit there eating her eggs like nothing had happened, like nothing was wrong.

James attempted to diffuse the tension by saying, "So, how does the Hufflepuff team look, Peter?"

Peter had been chosen as the official Quidditch spy, not because he was a particularly good spy, but mostly because people didn't expect him to be crafty or smart enough to suspect him of spying.

"Oh, they're not bad, but I think we'll take them down easily. It's Ravenclaw I think we ought to be worried about."

Sirius just stared at his eggs as Olivia discussed Quidditch with James and Peter. He thought to himself that this would be a very long day indeed.

He made it through most of the day quite well, until they reached Potions, where Olivia and Sirius were partners. Sirius didn't even pay attention to what they were brewing, just did what Olivia told him to do and watched her carefully.

"Sirius, would you please stop staring at me, I need to concentrate," she said, sweating profusely.

But Sirius knew that his staring wasn't what was breaking her concentration and that the sweat was not from the steam of their potion. Avery and Lestrange were leering at her from the other side of the classroom and she was trying her best not to look at them. Sirius shot them a venomous glare, but stopped when Olivia squealed with distress. "Sirius, stop stirring, stop stirring, you're killing our potion!"

He dropped the stirring stick instantly and tried to ignore the sniggers coming from Avery's and Lestrange's part of the room. Trying not to look embarrassed, Sirius apologized and asked what she wanted him to do next. The rest of the class was tense, but Sirius was too afraid to try to joke around to relieve the tension. There was so much wrong, he was sure, that he didn't want to set his foot in the wrong mess.

On the way back to the common room, he tried to remedy his stupidity.

"Livia, I'm sorry for not being on top of my game today. I know I let you down."

She shrugged. "Sirius, you're awful at Potions, I'm not angry that you're a tad worse than usual."

He pouted slightly and met her eyes. "I'm just worried about you, Livia. I know you want to pretend that nothing's wrong and everything's happy, but I've got a secret for you. Putting on a smile and pretending everything's okay doesn't make everything okay if you do it long enough, it just makes you feel tired of lying. If you cover it up, nothing ever heals. I want to help you, but you won't even admit anything's wrong. I can't help you when you do that and it scares me."

For a moment, as Olivia froze and met his eyes, he thought she would yell at him again, or leave. He thought she would lie and tell him she was fine and he was just being silly. He hadn't expected for her to cry. He hugged her as a reflex, petting her and kissing her forehead.

"Livia, what's wrong, love?" he whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek.

She pushed her face into his neck and shook her head. "I just don't feel like I have any control over my own life anymore. The Slytherins are pulling me around like a puppet and I can't even sleep. I'm scared to walk down the hallway by myself. I'm just scared. And I don't even know what I'm scared of, because I don't really know what they want and I don't know what they'll do to me."

"It's going to be okay, Livia, I promise," Sirius whispered, hoping he hadn't just made a promise he couldn't keep. "Let's go get you cleaned up before dinner, okay?"

She gave him a sad little nod and allowed him to lead her up to Gryffindor Tower. Sirius's mind was racing. Hopefully she would continue to be open with him, but he didn't know how to help her. Nothing bothered Sirius more than knowing he couldn't do anything to make Olivia better. Worse still, she kept crying.

When they reached the common room, Olivia settled down with Peter and James to start in on Peter's homework, and Sirius ran upstairs to get an ink well. There was already someone in the dormitory, though, when he got there. Remus was lying on his bed, hands over his eyes, making noises that sounded quite a bit like sobs.

Sirius inched closer to his friend, worried. When he was at the foot of the bed he whispered, "Remus, everything all right?"

Remus jumped at the sound of Sirius's voice and his hands whipped off his face, revealing puffy, red eyes and tearstained cheeks. Sirius had never been particularly comfortable with people crying, and today seemed to be one of those days where he was plagued with it. Taking a deep breath, he sat himself down on the foot of Remus's bed.

"What's wrong, Moony? Talk to me; I had to put up with Olivia's tears, I'm not going to sit here and let you leak as well."

His friend just shook his head, sitting up and wiping his eyes, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I didn't mean for anybody to find me like this."

"You need a better hiding spot, mate," said Sirius solemnly, and Remus gave a half-hearted laugh.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway I'm just worried."

Sirius nodded.

"About Olivia?"

Remus nodded and wiped his face again. "I know it's the Slytherins, but I can't do anything about it and I'm worried because she won't let anyone even comfort her. She won't let me report Yaxley or Lestrange or Malfoy or Avery or even Snape because I think she's scared of what they'll do if she does." He looked up at Sirius, his eyes pathetic. "What am I supposed to do if she won't let me do the one thing that I can to help her? It kills me to see her hurt like this."

Sirius nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. "What's the deal with you and Livia, anyway, Moony?"

Remus frowned. "What do you mean?"

But his blush belied him.

Barking with laughter, Sirius said, "Ah-ha! You know exactly what I mean! The way you blush when people bring it up says it all! So, tell me, what's the deal?"

With a great sigh, Remus said, "I may have a tiny crush on Livia, Sirius, but it's not a big deal, okay? She's pretty, you've said so yourself. But it doesn't matter. She'd never like me back."

Sirius shrugged and played with a string on his robes. "Look, Moony, you don't know that. She's not really herself right now, with all the stress she's under. She went to the party with you, didn't she?"

"As a friend," said Remus with just a touch of bitterness in his voice.

"Well," said Sirius slowly, "that's a good start. I mean, Jiki and I aren't exactly the model of a great relationship, but when older students give me advice, which is very awkward, I might add, they always say that great relationships start with friendships. I think they're trying to make me feel more confident, since Jiki and I were friends, but we weren't that great of friends. But you and Olivia are great friends. She's a good catch, Moony, but you have to be confident enough to snag her." He grinned up at his friend, whose eyes were still a bit puffy. "I think you've got a great chance."

Remus's face lit up. "You really think so?"

With a nod and a bit of a laugh Sirius stood. "Now, I've got homework for Livia to do, so when you feel like it, you should come down and help her. Maybe get a little bonding time in," he added with a wink.

Then Sirius grabbed an ink well and sauntered back down to the common room, where Olivia was laboring over Peter's homework and James and Peter were trying to play chess. They looked up when he sat down on the arm of Olivia's chair and handed her the ink. She frowned at him.

"That took a while."

He shrugged. "I ran into someone on the stairs and stopped to talk."

"Oh, really?" said James. "Who?"

Sirius wondered for a moment if he should lie, brush off the question, or at least tell the truth. He decided for his own sake that it was probably best to tell the truth. "Oh, Remus. He's got a bit of a headache, so he won't be down for a little while."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Olivia, turning back to her work. "Maybe his Potions partner screwed up too," she said playfully, but Peter made a noise of protest.

"For your information, all I did was chop things, so if there were any real problems with the potion, it was Remus's fault, not mine. Remus isn't dumb enough to let me work with the actual potion, unlike you, Livia, who keeps letting Sirius screw things up."

She laughed heartily and petted Sirius's arm. "It's good for him to get practice, and besides, he doesn't usually do so incredibly awfully. Today he was just out of his game."

He grinned, appreciating the comment, but also noting that she was pretending everything was okay again. Maybe he should just let her play this game, as long as she didn't play it when they were alone.

"Thanks, Livia, but I'm a bloody menace at Potions, and you know it."

"Well, that's not entirely true," reasoned James. "You're far better than tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum over there." He was pointing, of course, to Robbie and Lonnie.

"James," sighed Olivia, "Leave them alone, they're not hurting you. Anyway, Sirius, you aren't as bad as you'd like to think you are. It's just not an easy subject for anyone, really."

Peter snorted. "Right, because you, Evans, and Snivellus aren't people at all, but potion-making machines."

"Actually," said James, "I had thought of that. It might be true about Snivellus."

"He has a name, Potter!" cried Lily from across the common room.

James, of course, turned to her with a smile. "Oh, Evans, listening to our conversation, were you? Why don't you come join it? There's a nice spot here on my lap!"

She shot him a look that might have impaled him if looks could do that sort of thing, and said, "In your dreams, Potter."

"More like in his," said Sirius, and the Marauders erupted with laughter, except for James, who was suffering a bit of an ego blow, and his face was turning slowly red.

Then, Sirius noticed that Olivia had stopped laughing and followed her eyes to the stairs, where Remus was slowly coming down them, looking nervous and sheepish. She smiled at him and called him over.

Sirius grinned at Remus's flushed face, knowing his friend's embarrassment. Olivia, however, seemed to take this as a side-effect of the presumed headache.

"How are you feeling, Remus?" she said, sympathetically. "You look like you need a lie down."

Sirius cut in quickly, before Remus had time to look confused. "I told them about your headache, Remus, because they were wondering why it took me so long to grab ink."

Remus nodded. "I'm okay, Livia," he said, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall. "I can get started on James's Charms essay now. How good of a grade would you like, James?"

James shrugged and handed him some parchment. "Just something that reflects my amazingness in the class itself."

Olivia frowned. "That's not a word, James."

He grinned. "But you know it's true, Livia. I'm awesome in that class."

Sighing, she shook her head. "You're awesome in everything, James, but I try not to tell you so, because your ego doesn't need any more stroking."

Not only did the Marauders laugh at this, but many people sitting nearby did as well, and James turned even redder. He shrugged though, not able to refute what was clearly the truth.

"Anyway, let's get going on this homework, you two. We've got that game to cheer at tomorrow."

Olivia chuckled and gave him a little salute. "Yes sir, James, sir!"

Then Olivia and James began to discuss Quidditch and she ran her quill across the page, barely looking at it, lazily completely Peter's homework. Sirius tuned them out, not really caring much about the Hufflepuff match, and instead watching Remus watch Olivia as she spoke in her excited, breathless tone. Remus had it bad.

Remus was basically flat-out staring at Olivia as she spoke, his lips slightly parted, though thankfully his jaw wasn't completely dropped. His eyes weren't leering creepily like Yaxley's when he stared, it was more a sweet gaze, like he was afraid she'd disappear if he glanced away for even a second. He was lucky she was talking so intently with James, because she surely would have thought there was something on her face if she could see the way he was looking at her.

That night in the dormitory, Sirius settled himself on Remus's bed while the boy was brushing his teeth, and motioned James and Peter over. When Remus came back, he frowned at the three boys lying on his bed. "You know I have to sleep there, tonight," he said.

"Oh, we know," said Sirius, "but right now we need to plan your pursuit of Livia."

"What?" howled Remus, looking at their eager and amused expressions with horror.

"Relax, Moony," said James, pulling the boy onto the bed by his arm. "We all knew. I think most everyone in the school knows you fancy Livia, except Livia. Would you prefer the crafty approach, or the straightforward?"

Sirius snorted. "In other words, would you like to approach this like a normal person, or pull a James?"

James frowned. "Do they actually have a term called 'pulling a James'?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, when someone is obsessive, they call it that. But it's mostly used in references to females, most of whom are throwing themselves at Sirius or those Prewett twins in seventh year."

Sirius shook his head. "You'll be forever remembered at Hogwarts as an obsessive, love-sick git, Potter, just accept it. On to the matter at hand…"

Remus shook his head. "Can you just let me deal with this on my own?"

Peter cocked his head to the side. "Why, have you got a plan?"

Embarrassed, Remus shook his head.

"Well, lucky for you, you've got three of the five best planners in the school at your disposal!" said James with a grin.

And with that, Sirius grabbed Remus's wrist, forcing him to sit down and join their scheming.

/-/

Meanwhile, Olivia was sitting on her bed in the girls' dormitory, finishing Sirius's Charms essay. She turned to Mary with a scowl on her face as Margery ran into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"If Marge says another word about Sirius's ass, I'm going to die," she hissed at her Scottish friend. Mary just laughed.

"You know," said Mary, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you and Sirius fancy each other, but there's obviously someone else."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, Jiki's a sweet girl."

Mary laughed again. "No, I'm not talking about that. They won't last. They're more friends than anything. I'm talking about another guy fancying you."

Raising a single eyebrow, Olivia said, "Oh, really? And who might that be?"

"If you haven't figured it out, I'm not saying. I suspect they'll make him come out with it eventually," Mary mused.

Olivia groaned. "I'm not playing guessing games. This is absurd. Don't just dangle information like that in front of me and then not tell me."

Lily came back into the room, squeezing water out of her hair with a towel.

"What is Mary not telling you?"

"Apparently, someone likes me," said Olivia. "Do you know who it is?"

Lily nodded.

"Well, who is it?"

Hesitatingly, Lily gave Olivia and apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that. He actually swore me to secrecy. You'll have to figure it out by yourself."

She groaned again.

"Seriously? Just because James proclaims his love for you every other hour doesn't mean all men are painfully obvious."

Mary laughed at Lily's grimace at the mention of James. "No, it's not Sirius, and just because he's not pulling a James doesn't mean that he's not painfully obvious. He's just quiet about it. Actually, I think he's scared of liking you."

"Am I really that scary?" said Olivia, shocked.

The two girls laughed and Lily said, "No, he's not scared of you, he's scared of liking you! Oh, but we've probably said too much, you should go to sleep and just not worry about it until the morning, okay?"

And no matter how hard Olivia tried after that, neither girl would say another word on the subject. Eventually, the room was dark and quiet and she could tell that she was the only one still awake. She was partly staring at the ceiling because she didn't want another night of screaming bloody murder in her sleep, and partly because she couldn't turn her brain off. Who on earth liked her so much that the whole school knew except her? And if he wasn't pulling a James, then how was he being painfully obvious? Why was he scared of liking her?

For once, not sleeping was driving Olivia crazy. She crawled out of bed and wandered down to the boys' dormitory, not bothering to put on a robe. Knocking softly on the door, she wondered if anyone was still awake. Nobody answered, but she eased it open, just to be sure. Remus was sitting across from the door, sitting up in his bed, a deep look of contemplation on his face.

When she poked her head around the door, though, he looked up at her, surprised, a blush creeping into his cheeks. He motioned for her to come in, but put a finger to his lips to keep her quiet. She came over to his bed and sat down.

"What are you doing down here?" he whispered.

She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. The girls made me think before bed and now I can't turn my brain off."

Remus frowned. "But I thought you always do homework before going to sleep."

"Not that kind of thinking," she whispered softly. "They told me someone likes me. Apparently everybody knows who it is but me and it's driving me nuts. They say it's painfully obvious, but I can't figure it out for the life of me. Do you know who it is?"

If she had looked up at his face just then, she would have known, but instead, she was picking at a string on his coverlet.

"No," he whispered shakily. "I have no idea."

She sighed softly. "Ah, well, that's okay. At least I'm not the only one. That was bugging me."

Her eyes met his and she gave him a small smile. He nodded and whispered, "I guess you probably want to go back to bed now?"

Olivia sighed. "No, I don't, but I don't want to keep you up all night, either. I'm just afraid of sleeping. I hate the nightmares. I hate knowing that everyone else in the Tower wakes up whenever I scream, and that they all know it's me. I don't like being alone."

That last part was so soft that she hoped he hadn't heard it. She knew she hadn't screamed at all when Sirius had held her. She didn't want to flat out ask to sleep in Remus's bed, though. It was a bit of an awkward question. However, he hesitantly snaked his arm around her and whispered, "It's okay, you can stay here. We can talk until you fall asleep and I'll wake you up if you start to make noise, before anyone else hears you. How does that sound?"

Olivia nodded and leaned back, allowing Remus to pull up the covers so she could crawl underneath them. She snuggled close to him as he pulled the covers back over her, resting her head on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her. She should have noticed the change in his breathing, the tremble in his hand, but she was far too tired to think critically about much of anything.

"Thanks, Remus," she whispered, before drifting off into peaceful, dreamless sleep.


	19. She Won't Say It Out Loud

**February, 1972**

When Sirius woke the following morning, he sat up, stretched, and looked around the room casually, smiling to himself about how nothing changes. Then, his eyes hit Remus's bed and they widened drastically. There, curled up in the arms of Remus, was his cuddle buddy, Olivia. He hadn't thought about how all these relationships would make things change. She had told him they would anyway, as Olivia didn't think she ought to keep cuddling with her while he dated Jiki, but he hadn't expected to have to see her clearly wrapped her in Remus's arms in his place. Had he done something wrong?

But then Sirius realized how thrilled Remus must be, and he wondered if this was a step in the right direction for putting his friends together as a couple. That was, after all, what they had decided that they wanted, so Sirius supposed that he ought to be willing to let Remus take over his own duties as the one chasing away her nightmares and wiping her tears. It was a good thing, it meant Remus was getting the girl, but Sirius couldn't help but feel a bit replaced, so he pushed his face back into his pillow to try to get the dust out of his eyes.

The next morning, he awoke to the sound of James freaking out. James had rolled over and apparently seen Olivia sleeping in Remus's arms and thought the world was coming to some sort of abrupt halt. Remus was embarrassed, Olivia was beating James with a pillow, Peter was pretending he was still asleep and James was not relenting in his shrieks of terror about the impending doom of mankind. Sirius groaned and rolled over, hoping he could fall back asleep, but it was no use. It was just too damn loud in that room.

"SHUT UP!" he roared, yanking his curtains open in fury, finding Olivia mid-smack, James cringing in the corner of the room, and everyone staring at him, as though they had forgotten he was there. "I'm trying to sleep over here! Leave them alone, James. Olivia, I know he's a nosy prat but the pillow doesn't deserve it. And Remus, stop blushing like a radish, you look absurd. Good night!"

Olivia burst out in laughter, rushing over to his bed before he had time to jam his curtains shut and tackled him in a hug. "Good morning, Sirius! It's lovely to see your face on this beautiful morning, how did you sleep last night?"

He shrugged in the hug. "I've slept better."

"Aw, what was wrong? Bad dream? Peter's snoring?"

"Hey!"

She grinned. "We know you're awake, Peter, you can quit pretending. So, Sirius, what's wrong? Sore muscles? Sleep on something funny."

He shrugged. "I don't really know; it just wasn't good sleep. I'd love to get more, but I suppose it's nearly breakfast?"

Olivia's eyes glittered as she nodded. "C'mon, Sirius, let's get you dressed and go down to breakfast. Once you have a bit of toast you'll feel better."

James spluttered and coughed in shock, and Sirius could feel the crimson creep into his cheeks. Of course, he had just told Remus off for blushing, so he felt rather foolish.

"Um, Livia, dear," said James, "did you just offer to dress Sirius?"

She threw Sirius's pillow at him and glared. "Of course not, James, darling, it was an expression, now you'd all better get dressed. I'll see you in the common room. No fighting while I'm gone, boys."

And blowing a kiss as she went, Olivia left them in the common room, staring where she had just been, speechless.

"Wow," breathed Remus, and they all nodded in agreement.

"That girl's going to be the death of us all," James groaned, getting two other pillows thrown at him as the boys crawled out of their beds, getting ready for the day so that Olivia didn't have to wait for them in the common room.

Somehow, however, she wound up waiting for them, as always. She was leaning lazily against the wall next to the portrait hole, examining her nails as though she was wondering whether to charm them a different color. The interest she was affording her nails made Sirius suddenly want to look at them, which he normally didn't do unless she was waving them in his face, proud of her newest color choice. Olivia was very proud of her nails.

They sauntered down to breakfast and were just helping themselves to sausage when the seventh year twins, Fabian and Gideon Prewett sat down on either side of Olivia grabbing for toast. The redheads probably didn't notice the territorial looks Remus and Sirius were shooting them, but it was better that way. These twins ruled Hogwarts, and it was probably better not to get on their bad side.

"Good morning, Cromwell," said Gideon. "I have that book you wanted. I'll slide it into your bag so no one sees."

Olivia smiled at them with her best, dazzling grin. "Aw, thanks, Prewett. You're sure it's got the spell I wanted?"

Gideon thumbed her chin affectionately. "Now, would I let you down like that, princess? Don't worry, it's all in there. I expect great results from this one."

"You have my word," said Olivia solemnly, moving her right hand to her chest. "Now scram or people are going to get suspicious."

Fabian put his arm lazily around her shoulder. "Aw, Cromwell, they'll get suspicious if we do scram. Let us eat breakfast here, we promise to behave!"

Something about that wink he gave her and the twinkle in his blue eye made Sirius positive that his definition of behaving wasn't one Sirius would agree with. He didn't want to think about Fabian not behaving with Olivia. He surpassed a shudder.

"No, Fabian, it's better you don't pal around too much with the first years. If people ask why you were over here, you can tell them the truth: that you were loaning me a book, but you don't have to say why."

The twins faces fell a little and they went off a little bit more sulky than usual. James frowned at Olivia.

"What was that all about?"

She poked at her eggs for a bit, thinking, before stabbing them viciously and eating them excitedly. "I'll tell you later."

Remus shook his head. "We weren't asking about the book, we can guess what that's for. We're asking when you got so friendly with the Prewett twins."

Olivia shrugged and reached for the toast, which Sirius pushed toward her.

"Thanks, Sirius, dear. Oh, I don't know, I guess you'd probably rather no know the story." She chewed thoughtfully, glancing back over at the boys she had just sent away. "Yeah, I think it's best to leave it with you not wanting to know."

Sirius's heart was racing now. What did that mean? He exchanged worried glances with the others before looking over at the twins again. One of them stood and headed out of the Great Hall and Sirius mumbled something about forgetting something in the common room, hurrying out after him.

"Oi, Fabian!" he called, and the twin whirled around.

"Black," he said with a confused look. "Can I help you with something?"

"We were just wondering when you go so friendly with Livia. I'm wondering exactly what's happening, that a couple of notorious seventh year womanizers are winking at our little sister."

Fabian laughed and said, "You know she's not actually your sister, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Sirius, waving his hand dismissively. "Just answer the question, Prewett, or I can't be held responsible for my actions. I will protect Livia."

Looking around, Fabian grabbed Sirius's arm and pulled him into a broom closet.

"Um," said Sirius, "did you just pull me into a broom cupboard?"

"Yeah," whispered Fabian, "and I'm not even going to tell you how many kinds of awkward this is, just promise you won't repeat this to anyone. I'm fairly certain Cromwell would kill me."

Sirius said he promised and leaned against the dusty wall, moving a mop a little bit so he could get a little more comfortable.

"Okay, so the other night Fabian and I were out, looking for these Slytherins we were meant to be dueling when we heard screaming, so of course, we ran to help and there was Olivia, being held against a wall by the blokes we were supposed to be dueling. I never asked her what she was doing out at night, I'm not sure I wanted to know. I actually think she might have been sleepwalking. Anyway, so we started throwing hexes at these guys so they'd leave her alone and she saw one she liked and asked us about it as we walked her back to the common room. We started talking about spells and pranks and Gideon told her about this one… Well, you'll get to see it soon, I expect. Anyway, she asked for the book so she could try it out, and that's what we were doing this morning. Trust me; we want to protect her as much as you do. Longbottom told most of the older boys to watch out for Cromwell. The Slytherins have made her some sort of target, it seems, and we Gryffindors stick together."

Sirius stood there, taking it in. She hadn't told him. Of course she hadn't told him, Olivia was the most secretive girl he'd ever met. He wondered if she'd told Remus. Probably, she hadn't. He weighed whether or not to tell the other Marauders, wondering what the code would say about that, since Olivia obviously didn't want them to know.

"Thanks, Prewett," he said sincerely. "She can be a bit stubborn about telling us these things."

"No problem. I think you ought to keep an eye on her, though, if she really is sleepwalking. There's something really fishy going on. Maybe you ought to talk to some of her dorm mates?"

"Either that or make her sleep in our room," Sirius said, laughing hollowly. "She does that half the time anyway, because she can't sleep or she's afraid of her nightmares."

"That's the screaming, right? I heard it was her but I didn't want to judge until I knew."

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, it's her. She doesn't like to talk about them, though."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Fabian. "She works hard to be tough, that one. I'll keep my eyes peeled for her, and I promise to let you know if anything happens, poor thing."

"Don't pity her," said Sirius softly. "She'd never want your pity."

"No," said Fabian slowly. "I don't expect that she would. Well, it's been good talking to you, Black. We should talk more often."

"Of course," said Sirius, shaking Fabian's outstretched hand as they crawled out of the broom cupboard. A group of sixth year Ravenclaws was standing nearby and giggled as they came out of the closet.

"Hello, ladies!" said Fabian, shaking the dust out of his hair. "Just showing my young protégé all the best spots for a break period." He winked and they giggled all the harder.

Sirius just shook his head. Fabian and Gideon Prewett really were something else, but at least they were on his side.

The spell turned the Slytherin table in the Great Hall red and gold. Nobody ever pinned it back to Olivia or Gideon, as it was done in the middle of the night, ready for breakfast the next morning. It could have been any Gryffindor.

The weather got a little warmer as winter truly melted into spring, the snow being replaced by rain. As much as Olivia begged, the boys didn't agree to any more rain dancing, not particularly wanting a shameful detention for something as small as dragging a bit of mud through the castle. Soon, Remus and James had their birthdays. They were only about two weeks apart, so they split the difference and had one party for the two of them.

James, of course, planned most of the party himself, wanting everything to be exactly his way on his birthday, though planning, in James's world, meant dictating to Olivia what he wanted and expecting her to make it all happen. Some things, she had to tell him, were impossible, like hiring the Giant Squid as the entertainment for the night.

"I'm sorry, James, but even if the Giant Squid was a performer, which I highly doubt, and I don't think we could fit him in the common room, dear. And honestly, that's if we could even get him to the tower."

The party was another success, except for a small fight between Lily and James, which Olivia had to break up before someone got hurt. Apparently, James thought that his birthday entitled him to a dance. Lily didn't seem to agree. Olivia had to dance with James for almost the rest of the night to keep him from harassing Lily.

Once the red-head had gone off to bed, though, Sirius cut in. Olivia shook her head as he wrapped his arms around her and James nearly passed out on the couch.

"I think you wore him out," said Sirius, amused.

She laughed and hugged him tightly.

"I just don't want to spend the next six years babysitting James, you know? He needs to leave that poor girl alone."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe he'll get over her. Maybe she'll fall for her. We Marauders have undeniable charm, you know!"

Olivia laughed.

"Oh, really, you think you're all that special, Black? There wouldn't be any Marauders without me, you know."

"Oh, don't I know it," said Sirius seriously. "You're a very special girl, Cromwell. I mean it when I say the Marauders are irresistible, and that includes you, missy, not just me and James."

She blinked at him.

"Did you just call me 'missy'?"

A grin broke out across his face and he shrugged and said, "So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

They both laughed and he held her, realizing after a few moments that the song had ended. Dropping their arms, they both went to help Peter clean up the party, after having spent the morning insisting to Remus and James that they weren't allowed to clean up after their own party. James hadn't minded, but they suspected Remus to try to help anyway.

Somehow, they managed to clean everything up without any interference from Remus and said their goodnights. Olivia gave Sirius a hug and said, "Can I stay with you guys tonight?"

He bit his lip. If he said yes, it was like accepting that she could sleep with him, but he knew Remus would want her. But he couldn't just say no. She needed them. He looked around for Remus, but couldn't see him.

"Sure, come on," he whispered, taking her hand and leading her up to their room, sleepily.

Sirius found some of his clothes for her to wear to bed and went to change while she put them on. When he came back, she was curled up in his bed and he climbed in next to her, pulling the covers over them both. She smiled sleepily at him as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Thanks, Sirius. Remus is sweet, but he can't make my dreams as happy as you do."

With that, Olivia fell fast asleep in his arms and Sirius wondered what that meant. One thing was certain; he was never, ever repeating those words to Remus. They would crush him completely.

When he heard Remus and Peter come in, he nuzzled into Olivia, pretending to be asleep, not wanting to explain himself without time to think of an explanation, even though he knew nothing he could come up with would be good enough.

He fell asleep to the sound of what he knew was Remus crying himself to sleep, and feeling like the worst friend in the world.

The next morning, Sirius woke up wondering why there was someone in his bed, and then realized it was Olivia. She was nuzzled against his chest, lips slightly parted, pressed strangely against his collarbone. His skin prickled as he watched her sleep, her beautiful hair falling around her face. Sirius reached forward and moved a strand of her cheek, the action waking her. He mentally cursed himself for waking her, but she smiled at him and stretched, sitting up and looking around.

"Some party, huh?" she said, leaning up against his chest as he sat up next to her.

"Yeah," he said, worried that Remus was going to wake up and see them like this. "You should go get dressed, love."

She frowned over at his watch. "But it's another two hours until breakfast. Let's go to the common room so we don't wake anybody."

He nodded and she led the way to the common room, holding his hand and wearing his boxers and t-shirt. Remus was going to kill him. Remus was going to chop off his limbs, dice them in front of his eyes, and then set him on fire and watch him burn. There would be no mercy. Sirius was such an idiot.

They played some Muggle card game; or rather Olivia tried to teach it to him, but was doing a poor job, since Lily had just taught her a few days ago. Eventually, people started filing down the stairs to head down to breakfast, but Sirius was too caught up in his attempts to learn from Olivia to notice. That is, until he heard the voices of his friends as they came down the stairs. He dropped the card he had been holding above the pile and looked up at them, eyes wide with fear.

James didn't know anything was wrong, so he told them to go upstairs and get clothes on so they could all go to breakfast, but Sirius caught a good blast of Remus's look as he passed him to go change. The hurt and anger was unmistakable. He would be spending his free time that day begging forgiveness to preserve his friendship while normal people who hadn't just spent the night cuddling with their best friend's crush to stop her nightmares would be playing games and laughing over each other's jokes. He mentally prepared himself for the best grovel of his life.


	20. Come Rain or Come Shine

**September/October, 1978**

When Caradoc finally came back from his mission, a special meeting was called. Nearly every Order member was in attendance, mostly because people were hoping to find out what Caradoc had been up to that had been such a secret. Olivia found herself squished between Sirius and Fabian, squeezed around a table that should have held half the people presently surrounding it.

"Well," Albus Dumbledore said cheerily, "it's good to see you all here tonight. I do believe this is the best turnout we've ever had. Perhaps we should have the promise of steak and kidney pie more regularly."

There was a small chuckle that ran through the room, but it ended quickly. The eagerness to get to business was unusual for the younger members of the Order, but today was a day they had been awaiting for quite a while.

"Now, I'm sure you're all aware that Caradoc is back with us tonight. I know you're all itching to know what mission he was on, but I am afraid that it must remain a secret, for now." A collective groan sounded through the room. "Suffice it to say that his mission was successful. Dedalus, what news do you have from Kent?"

The meeting dragged on, and the excitement that had been in the air dissipated rapidly once Dumbledore informed them that Caradoc would not be reporting on his mission to the group at large. Toward the end of the meeting, however, several newer missions were assigned.

"Remus, I'll need to speak with you privately sometime this week," Dumbledore said, going down a list of notes he had made for himself. "Olivia, Peter, Dorcas, I'll be needing you for something once our wedding has taken place, of course." He gave Lily a smile and said, "We wouldn't want something to happen to the Maid of Honor that would impede the occasion. Edgar, there's a village in Yorkshire with reports of what appears to be unusual troll activity. I would like you to look into that. Take Dedalus with you. I think that's all for tonight. Oh, wait, I almost forgot."

He tapped his nose brightly, pointing at a camera on the end of the room.

"Dorcas wanted us to take a photograph. It's almost as though she knew we'd have a nearly complete turnout today. Well, everyone, settle into somewhere the camera can see you and we'll get this photograph out of the way. The smell of steak and kidney pie is getting to me."

They gathered around, taking a couple of quick photographs, smiling and eager, and young. Olivia thought how silly it would look in the years to come, when they looked back at a picture of them smiling like a bunch of foolish optimists during a bloody war. But then, that is exactly what they were: a bunch of foolish optimists. She knew that within ten years at least one of them would be dead, and she knew exactly who it would be.

Two weeks passed. The wedding was a week away, and they were all incredibly nervous as they worked out the finer details of safety and security for the event. After a long last-minute fitting of her bridesmaid dress, Olivia had collapsed in the bed she typically shared with Sirius, desperate for a nap.

She was rudely awakened, however, by Sirius and Remus.

"We need to go to headquarters, love," Sirius said earnestly. "Marlene McKinnon and her family were just killed."

Olivia's stomach dropped as Sirius pulled her out of bed and wrapped a cloak around her. The world was moving in slow motion. She had just spoken to Marlene the morning before. Olivia had braided Marlene's youngest daughter's hair just before lunch. They couldn't be dead. The youngest was only seven.

Still, she found herself at headquarters, surrounded by other Order members, each as solemn and disbelieving as the next. Here was the proof that it was true, Dumbledore regarding them with the saddest face she had ever seen him wear, and yet not a soul could bring themselves to truly accept the news.

A short debrief on the event occurred, but Olivia was hardly listening. She was watching the sullen, empty look in Sirius's eyes. There would be at least one more death by the time this was over, and one that would be much closer to him. The only saving grace was that she wouldn't have be to around to see him after that death, but to know that it would hurt him so much wrenched her heart right out of her chest.

"Livia, Dorcas, and Peter," Albus said softly, "I must speak with you privately."

The three of them nodded and Olivia kissed Sirius's cheek gently.

"I'll see you back at the house," she whispered, and although his tight grip on her arm didn't want to leave without her, he nodded shortly, kissed her lips quickly, and then left behind Remus, Lily, and James.

"I have a mission for the three of you," Albus said solemnly, "but it's particularly dangerous, and therefore I insist that it must wait until after the wedding. I refuse to allow this war to disrupt such a happy occasion."

They nodded and muttered their assent.

"Albus," Olivia said quietly, "what is the mission?"

"At this moment, I will not say," he replied, staring over the top of her head, lost in thought. "You will need to go abroad to the continent. France, Spain, Germany, and perhaps as far as Estonia. That won't be a problem?"

"No," Olivia said eagerly, glad it wouldn't be in the country. Staying out of Voldemort's grasp would surely be easier if they were in different countries. "How long do you expect us to be gone? Sirius doesn't really do without me very well for too long, as I'm sure you could imagine."

"The wedding is in a week," Albus said, considering her. "You will need to leave directly afterward. Then, I think two weeks abroad should do it. I will have more specific instructions upon your departure."

They said their goodbyes, but, Albus touched Olivia's shoulder as she turned to go.

"I know what you were thinking about," he said softly after Dorcas and Peter had left. "It will hurt him badly when it happens, but it would hurt him more if you walked away needlessly now."

She shook her head, turning to face him once more.

"And is it really fair to just go on with this knowledge and not tell him, walk away knowing what's going to happen and not saying a word because it's for his own good? That's going to break his heart, Albus. I can't play these games. It's not just him this is going to hurt!" she yelled. "How can I possibly leave him? I mean, what will I have to do, look him in the eye and say I didn't really love him and that it was all just a game? Wouldn't it make more sense to just walk away now and never get in so deep that I have to hurt him like that?"

They blinked at each other as she realized what she had just said, just done, and a blush gathered on her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Albus," she muttered, not meeting his eyes. "I had no right to yell at you–"

"Nonsense, my dear," he said. "Better to yell at me than to do something destructive to yourself. As far as your decisions, it is entirely up to you, but know that this is going to hurt you both very much, no matter what you decide. And there is always a chance that after you leave him, if things go well, that he won't lose you completely. It is a prophecy, yes, but they can be changed."

She shook her head, knowing Albus believed so much in free will, believed in making one's own destiny. She didn't believe a word about it, and if Albus had spent his whole life being dragged around by fate, she suspected he wouldn't be quite so apt to suggest that the prophecy wouldn't come true.

But even so, even if she could change the prophecy, would she? Would she leave Sirius to save her own life, to go into hiding? Would life be worth living without him, without at least his child? Olivia doubted it very much. No, she wouldn't leave him, no matter how good of an idea it seemed.

"Good night, Albus," she whispered, grasping his hand fondly as she made her way out of the door, heading straight back to Sirius.

She crawled back into bed, curled up against Sirius's dozing form, and he stirred slightly as she clutched him.

"Livia?" he moaned, turning over to face her.

"Shh," she soothed. "Go back to sleep, love, it's me."

And they held each other tightly, anxiously, both incredibly sleepy, but too shaken by the events of the night to truly sleep peacefully in each other's arms.

/-/

Sirius woke up on the morning of the wedding with one of the worst hangovers of his life. It was definitely top five of all time. Groaning, he sat up, looked around Remus's flat, and saw that he was not the only one awake. Remus was staring at a tile on the floor, checking his watch every few seconds, as if trying to decide when would be the kindest time to wake up the others.

"Bloody hell, Moony," Sirius moaned. "What did we do last night?"

Remus started at the greeted, but he smirked ever so slightly and whispered, "Nothing we'll be telling the girls about, that's for certain. Do you not remember anything?"

"Ah," Sirius sighed, slowly crawling to his feet, "something about a blonde… and Peter. Was Peter snogging a blonde?"

"Ah, yes," Remus said sheepishly. "A blond _man_."

"Oh," Sirius said shortly. "He's not going to remember that, is he?"

"Likely not," Remus replied. "I'd recommend not mentioning it, either, because he's certainly going to remember your earlier misdeeds from the night, and you don't want him telling Olivia about the redhead you propositioned."

Sirius's eyes grew like saucers. He had done _what_?

"Please tell me I didn't–?"

"Oh, no, she turned you down. Rather cruelly, I might add. I suppose it's probably because you sloshed your drink all over her dress."

Sirius snorted. Birds could be so picky. You didn't go out to places like that if you didn't want to get a little bit gritty with a completely drunk stranger.

"There is one thing you'll not be able to hide from Olivia, though," Remus muttered, turning a shade of pink that made Sirius's heart drop.

What had he done?

"And that is?"

"Uh, there's a few of them. The ones on your chest aren't so bad, but the one on your hip, that might be a bit awkward."

Oh, sweet Merlin.

Sirius ran to the nearest full-length mirror, which was in James's bedroom, and stripped off his clothes. Tattoos. Five of them. Sirius hadn't taken Ancient Runes, and James hadn't been any great shakes at them, but James must have drawn the designs, because Sirius recognized the marks on his chest as roughly the runes for "ferret", "stag", "rat", and "wolf". They looked a bit tough. Remus was right; those weren't the problem at all. It was the little swirly purple monstrosity on his hip that Olivia was going to flip out about.

"Property of Olivia Evelyn Cromwell Black."

It probably wouldn't have been so bad, if he hadn't stuck his own surname on the end of it.

He took a deep, shaky breath and prepared himself mentally for being murdered as soon as she saw it.

Although on the plus side, it was quite pretty. The writing was very elaborate and swirly, like the sort of thing girls liked, and it had a tiny boarder of miniature purple hearts in a chain around the words, the shape of an oval.

He threw on some clothes, shook his head, which hurt quite a lot, and made his way back out to join the boys. Remus had just finished waking James and Peter when Sirius looked down at them.

"What in the name of Merlin did we do last night?" James groaned, blinking furiously as he stretched his arms.

"I got tattoos," Sirius said hoarsely. "Five of them."

"Seriously?" James said eyes suddenly wide. "Where?"

Sirius pulled off his shirt. The boys looked at them and nodded with approval, although Sirius had a suspicion that Peter was merely mimicking the motion of the other two.

"I only see four," James said, frowning slightly. "Where's the other one?"

"Nowhere I'm ever showing you," Sirius snapped, slapping Remus upside the head as he began to snigger. "Now, let's get a move on before your bride thinks you've changed your mind after stalking her for the last seven years."

The mention of Lily sobered James instantly. They made their way to the clearing behind the Cromwell Manor where the wedding would be taking place.

"Ah, boys!" called the familiar voice of Olivia's father, Peter Cromwell. "The girls were here a half hour ago, and I must say they looked rather worse for the wear. Not that you look too spectacular yourselves. Come here, you'll be getting ready in Anne-Claire's room since she's away. There's plenty of room, but if you need more, let me know. Olivia expanded her room a bit. Girls take up so much space."

Sirius barked with laughter, and he led the way to Anne-Claire's room. It was incredibly girly, just as he had expected it to be. They didn't have much to do, once Remus had James looking like he wasn't experiencing a massive hangover and the dress robes were freshened up. Just as Sirius was pulling off his shirt, there was a knock on the door, and without further warning, it opened to reveal Olivia, already changed and ready to go.

"Bloody hell, Livia, don't you know?" James cried. "One of us could have been starkers!"

She snorted.

"I _did_ knock, James. And it wouldn't be something I haven't seen before. Sweet Merlin's balls, Sirius, what did you do to your skin?"

He regarded her shocked expression sheepishly, shrugging a little as she ran her fingers along the tattoos, holding in the shiver at her touch.

"Erm, like it? It's you guys, see? The runes."

"Yes, I know," she snapped. "Lily got an Outstanding on her Runes O.W.L., if you recall. I happened to be the one doing her revision with her, despite the fact that I wasn't in the bloody class. Is this… are these things _permanent_?"

"Er, I think so," he muttered. "What, you don't like them?"

Before she could answer, Remus guffawed, "Wait till she sees the fifth one, Pads."

Sirius glared at Remus and threw his shoe, but Remus ducked.

"Destroy my sister's room and she'll be after your heads," Olivia said. "What fifth one?"

"It's… um…"

"Can I see it, so we can just get this all over with?"

"It's not something I'm going to reveal to these guys," he sniffed. "It's _personal_."

"Oh, bloody Merlin's piss, Sirius," she swore softly, rolling her eyes. "I swear, I leave you guys alone for _one bloody night_–"

"So what did you do last night, Livia?" Remus said, rather cheekily.

She blushed bright red, shook her head, and said, "Never mind this now. I'll deal with whatever this craziness is that you've done later, Sirius. I'm here to exchange gifts. James, this is for you, from your darling bride. In case she tries to tell you otherwise, I picked it out. Don't believe her lies."

James snorted, taking the parcel.

"Thanks, Livia. You've really put me in the mood for the occasion with your humble words and true friendship."

They were cufflinks with a stag and doe charmed on them, gently nuzzling snouts. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift, one I might have believed Lily had picked out.

"Lily did that charm work," Remus said astutely. "I recognize her signature. Your images aren't as sharp and crisp."

"Yes, well," Olivia huffed, "it was still my idea, and I did pick out the cufflinks."

"They're very nice," James said, holding out his arms to Remus so that he could put them in. "Her gift is over there," he added, nodding over to a carefully wrapped box that had clearly been wrapped by Remus. She grabbed the box, kissed Sirius's cheek, shook her head and gave him a this-isn't-over look as she backed out of the door.

"You're in for it now," Remus said, his tone very amused after the door closed.

"Yeah, no thanks to you, Moony," Sirius growled.

"No, I didn't mean that. You didn't tell her she looked nice. You're in for it."

So he was.

The wedding ceremony was lovely, but Sirius was more taken by how completely overshadowed the Sitzer twins were by Olivia. Lily looked nice, of course, but Sirius had eyes for no one but the girl whose name was tattooed on his hip, and that was probably for the best.

When they danced, Olivia questioned him once more about the tattoo, and he gave her an elusive answer before saying, "Oh, look, Lily's about to throw the bouquet" and pushing her over to the crowd of clambering single women.

Jiki caught it. That was probably for the best. It took a bit of the pressure off Sirius. Especially after thinking over what he had to show her after the party was over.

And sooner than he would have liked, it was over, and the best man and maid of honor bid the newlyweds a fond goodbye, returning back to Sirius's house and collapsing on the couch.

"I want to see it."

With a sigh, he muttered, "Please don't curse me," and stripped off his clothes, ensuring that she could see his bare hip.

She stared at the words, entranced, shocked, and ran her finger along the swirly writing.

"What on earth possessed you…?"

"Blame Moony for not stopping me," Sirius sighed. "Apparently, he was sober all night and just let me act like a fool."

For a moment, she continued to trace the words as if finding something acceptable to say about them. Then she said, "Well, at least purple is a nice color for you."

And then they laughed so hard they cried.


	21. Bigger Problems

**June, 1972**

Remus and Sirius had a bit of a rough patch for a little while, but Olivia didn't ask them for details. She had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with her sleeping arrangements. Maybe she ought to create a James system and change beds every night. But then she thought about sleeping with Peter and his snoring and decided she ought to draw a line somewhere. There was no way she could sleep with that snoring in her ear. She even sat James, Remus and Sirius down and created a sleeping arrangement, not saying the real reasons she was creating it. Maybe James was right, with this many best friends having jealous-fighting systems was really the best plan.

After that, things went back to normal. She slept in a different bed every night, but she didn't scream in her sleep, so they were perfectly happy. They threw parties for events, and would have thrown the party for the Gryffindors if they had beat Ravenclaw. However, they lost, and Ravenclaw won the Quidditch cup. Ravenclaw was so behind in house points, however, that there was still a chance at the house cup. That is, if the Marauders didn't lose too many points for their pranking, they had a chance.

They had a lovely Easter holiday, though it passed without comment. They spent a lot of it studying, on Remus's insistence. After all, Remus and Olivia couldn't do everyone's exams like they did with homework. The Potters housed them, and fed them far more than was necessary, and promised that their home was open to all of them whenever they would like. Olivia had a feeling she was going to spend a lot of time with the Potters over the years, and Sirius especially grew attached to them. It probably had something to do with him being the one who didn't get along with his actual parents.

May passed otherwise without note. Remus had their noses in books for what felt like an unhealthy amount of time, but most of the students were doing the same. Olivia couldn't even leave the boys to escape it. Mary and Lily studied even more than the boys. She managed to survive by spending a lot of time alone out by the lake. She had a nice tree she would sit underneath when she needed time alone and didn't want to be bothered by the boys or her roommates.

Even after the exams were over in the first week of June, which they all agreed weren't as hard as they thought they'd be, Olivia slipped off to her special tree, knowing the boys couldn't find her. However, someone did find her. She had been dozing off in the shade when she felt a hand close around her wrist. Her eyes opened with shock and she found herself looking up into the face of Yaxley, smirking evilly down at her. Before she had time to scream, his hand made contact with her head and the world went black.

/-/

Sirius was pacing the room. Olivia had been missing since they had finished their last exam. It was a Friday afternoon. They had all agreed to go swimming before dinner. The problem was, it was almost dinner, and Olivia had never showed up. The boys were sitting in the common room, exchanging worried glances with each other and the clock, but nobody dared say a word, dared say what they all feared.

When she didn't show up for dinner, Remus gave Sirius the most panicked look Sirius had ever seen. Olivia didn't skip meals. Something was wrong. Sirius found the Prewett twins and told them his concerns, that he thought something had happened to her and that they couldn't find her. The twins leapt into action, putting all the older Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students looking for her. After dinner, they got a few Hufflepuffs in on it, and when she wasn't found by curfew, Longbottom took the remaining Marauders to talk to Professor McGonagall. When they arrived at her office, however, she wasn't alone.

Professor Dumbledore, as well as Professors Slughorn, Sprout and Flitwick were all standing there, looking down at them. Professor McGonagall greeted them and James spoke.

"Professors, we haven't seen Olivia since after our Charms exam let out. We had agreed to meet up before dinner, but she didn't show. And then she didn't show up at dinner and we started looking for her. We had dozens of people searching the castle for her all evening and no one has been able to find her."

"Please," said Remus softly, "we're really worried."

Professor Dumbledore nodded and ordered the Heads of Houses to order all prefects and professors to be on alert for her, and to have search parties looking through the grounds and castle for her. If she wasn't found by Wednesday, he said, they would write the Ministry and get law enforcement involved. Her father, of course, would be notified immediately.

They went back to bed, but none of them slept. Sirius stared out the window, worrying the whole night. He kept expecting Olivia to wander into their room, crawling into one of their beds and curl up into someone's arms for the night. It had been James's turn to have her tonight, but for some reason, Sirius felt like his bed was empty. There were no snores from Peter's bed. He couldn't sleep either. He could hear Remus sobbing softly from his bed. Sirius balled his fists and began beating up his pillow, imagining it was Yaxley's face until he had no energy to throw another punch. He had no way to explain it, but he was so sure that Yaxley was responsible somehow. Longbottom had searched his dormitory personally, but there had been nothing incriminating. There had to be some explanation. She had to be all right. He would never forgive himself if she wasn't.

The boys spent all of Saturday putting notices on every noticeboard in the school that she was missing, and to let either them or McGonagall know if someone had any information on her whereabouts. They even put one in the Slytherin common room. There had to be somebody in that House with a conscience. They searched every corner of the castle for her, and spent Sunday searching the grounds. Monday morning, they were out of ideas, but when they got back from breakfast, Sirius saw a note on his bed.

_Check the forest._

It was unsigned, and it was rather suspicious, but they didn't have any better ideas, so just before lunch, they took a deep breath and began their first expedition into the forest. They told Fabian Prewett where they were going, in case they weren't back by dinner, but made him swear not to tell on them. He had grown into a strong ally, so they were sure that he would keep his word.

Sirius's heart was pounding as they entered the forest. They hoped they would find her, but his mind was reminding him sadistically that after three days, they might not find her alive.

/-/

Olivia woke up in a forest. Had she been in a forest when she fell asleep? Or had she fallen asleep? She couldn't recall anything that led her to this forest, but that's certainly where she was. She lifted her head, rubbed her eyes, and looked around.

There were several grown men arguing in a huddle nearby, and there was a woman as well. Olivia thought the woman looked familiar, but she couldn't think straight enough to remember why. There was another man sitting alone, staring off into the distance as though in deep thought and Olivia didn't have to think about how she recognized him. His face was in the newspapers all the time. He was Lord Voldemort, the pureblood supremacist. His eyes scanned the area and fell on her watching him and his lips curled.

"Our guest is awake," he said, his voice cruel and cold. He stood and walked over to her, the others following close behind him. Olivia knew why the woman looked familiar now; she'd know those gray eyes anywhere. She was Bellatrix, Sirius's deranged cousin.

"Good morning, Miss Cromwell," said Voldemort, being surprisingly cordial and gracious. "Are you quite comfortable?" She frowned and nodded, wondering what was going on. "Good, good. I have a few questions for you, if that's all right?" She nodded again. "Firstly, do you know why you're here? No? Do you know who I am? Ah, good. Do you know what I stand for? Good, good. What do you think of my politics?"

She blinked. The greatest pureblood supremacist since she had been born had taken her into the wood to ask what she thought of his politics. Was this some ploy to get her father on his side in the Ministry?

"I don't agree with them, sir," she said, as politely as possible.

He frowned slightly. "I see. And why is that?"

She frowned. "I like Muggleborns. Two of my best friends are Muggleborns, and one is one of the best in our year. If she wasn't allowed to do magic, it would be a great loss."

He sneered. "Well, you're just a child; you have time to learn the right of things."

She stared back at him, terror growing steadily in her. The way he was looking at her… There was something disturbing about it. She wanted to run away, but it was just then that she realized she was tied to a tree. Olivia began to struggle and panic, and the people watching her just laughed.

"Now, now, pet, don't struggle, you'll just tire yourself out," said Voldemort. "Bella, tell me everything you've learned about our little pet."

Pet. Pet… That was what Yaxley called her. She cringed at the word.

Well, my Lord, my sister tells me that she is friends with our blood traitor cousin, and Potter. She also reports that she has successfully spurned the advances of Yaxley. And of course, we know about the prophecy, my Lord, and that it will be her seed."

Seed? What was Bellatrix talking about? What prophecy? Olivia didn't like the way Voldemort's lip was curling.

"She'll bear it and we shall raise it. She'll warm up to Yaxley eventually, not that she'll have much of a choice." He turned to Olivia. "You'll be coming with us, pet, and you shall do as we say, or we shall have to make you. Now, you'll let Yaxley do as he pleases, and you'll do as he says, understood?"

Her eyes widened in fear. She didn't know what Yaxley wanted with her, but apparently he wasn't acting entirely of his own accord. She cringed. "No! No, I won't!"

Voldemort frowned.

"Hmm. That's no good. We can't take her until she learns to behave. Bella? Would you care to do the honors?"

Bellatrix grinned a wild and thirsty grin.

"Certainly, my Lord! _Crucio!_"

The spell hit Olivia suddenly, making her toes curl in extreme pain. She screamed and cried and thrashed aimlessly against the ropes that bound her to the tree. She wanted to explode, to die, to not have to feel this pain. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.

"Very good, Bella, that's enough for now. Let's get our guest some food and wash up. She's not going anywhere," said Voldemort, and the others laughed viciously. Before she knew it, they had Disapparated, and Olivia was alone in the forest, tears filling her eyes.

About twenty minutes later, Olivia heard rustling in the undergrowth and she looked around, panicked, but saw no one. Then, she heard voices, starting far away and getting slowly closer.

"I don't think she'd be this far into the forest guys, let's go back."

"I think Peter's right, unless she got eaten by something, she wouldn't be out here, and I'm not thrilled by the idea of just finding Livia's bones."

"James, c'mon, even if all we did find were her bones, at least her father would have closure. It's better to know…."

"Guys, please, can we not talk about that?"

It was her friends. The Marauders were looking for her. How did they know where she was? Where exactly was she? She opened her mouth and cried out, weakly but clearly, "I'm over here!"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Are you hearing things now, Sirius? You should've gotten more sleep…"

"Shut up, Peter, I'm trying to listen…"

"Help! I'm over here!" she cried, a little louder and stronger.

"Oh, Merlin, I hear it too. Livia?"

"James! Please, help me!"

The rustling came closer.

"Livia, keep calling, we don't want to lose you…."

"Sirius, please! I don't know when they'll get back! I want to get out of here, please!"

They came around the tree and she cried tears of relief. Sirius frowned.

"Who the hell died you to a tree?"

"A bunch of those pureblood supremacists, including your crazy cousin and their leader."

Olivia didn't take her eyes off Sirius as James got out his knife and started cutting at the ropes.

"Did they just tie you up and leave you here?" asked Remus, who stepped up to her and brushed her hair out of her face, assessing her injuries. "It looks like something else happened."

She nodded. "When I woke up a little while ago they started to ask me things and asking me to do things, and when I refused, Bellatrix used the Cruciatus Curse on me until they left to go clean up and get food."

James cut through the last rope and said, "So how long do you think they'll be gone?"

His words were cut into by a loud crack and a cruel voice saying, "Not very long."

Olivia held tightly to Remus as she looked over to see Voldemort sneering at her again. She began to cry.

"You've been a bad girl, pet. We'll have to punish you again."

But before Bellatrix could raise her wand, Sirius jumped in front of Olivia and yelled, "Don't you touch her!"

"Ah," said Bellatrix, "little cousin Sirius, such a little misfit, such a little disappointment. Care to add martyr to the list, little cousin?"

Sirius reached behind him and grasped Olivia's arms tightly, making sure she didn't move. Remus hugged Olivia close, trying to calm her down.

"What do you want with her, Bella? What is she to you?"

Voldemort sneered. "Well, it's really not any of your business, Black. But I'll cut you a little deal. You promise to sign on with me as soon as you're of age, and I'll make personally sure that your precious Miss Cromwell makes it back to the castle without a scratch. We could use someone with your guts and breeding."

"Here's what I think of that breeding," said Sirius, and he spat on the ground. And you can take your deal and shove it for all I care. I'm not signing on with you freaks, and you're not touching Livia."

And with that, he nodded to James, who muttered something and put a blast between them and the adults, which allowed them to run away with a decent head start, as James continued to blast smoke behind them as they went. The only problem was that Olivia's legs didn't seem to be working properly.

"Sirius, you'll have to carry her!" James yelled, and Sirius lifted her as best as he could, running through the forest, not daring to look behind, but dodging the spells of their pursuers.

After what seemed like forever, they managed to make it out of the forest and onto what Olivia recognized as Hogwarts' grounds. She had been in the Forbidden Forest the entire time. They were halfway to the castle when they slowed and stopped, looking back. The supremacists were still there, hiding behind the trees on the edge of the forest, but they knew better than to come out and show their faces, incriminating themselves. Afraid they might try to throw curses, Sirius laid Olivia on the ground and shielded her with his body. He whispered in her ear, "It's going to okay, Livia. Someone will come and get us soon. Everybody's been looking for you."

She nodded and swallowed hard and said, "How long was I missing?"

Remus frowned and petted her, looking as though he was on the verge of tears as he replied, "Three days. We thought you might be dead. I was so scared."

"We all were," said James, glancing over at the forest. "I don't know if I'm ever going back in there again."

Peter and Sirius both snorted.

"Give it two weeks, a month at most," said Peter. "You'll be eating those words. You were far too intrigued by the centaurs."

Remus shook his head. "We go home in less than a month. Between exam results and celebration, I doubt he'll have the time to go running off to the forest."

"What are you boys doing outside? Why aren't you at lunch? Oh!"

It was Professor McGonagall. When she saw Olivia, her hand sprang to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

"When did you find her?"

"Just a little while ago," said Remus. "She was…" He looked at James.

"She was in the forest," said James, "but she wasn't there because she went in willingly."

"What do you mean?"

Sirius petted her hair, frowning down at her and replied, "Those pureblood supremacists captured and tortured her and we don't know why. But we found her tied to a tree and we only just got away from them." He looked up at Professor McGonagall, who was gaping at them. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but it's true."

She nodded slowly. "Well, considering the state Miss Cromwell appears to be in, I have to say, I believe you. Now, could you boys carry her? We need to get her to the hospital wing at once."

James and Sirius supported her and they got her up to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey started to work on her at once. Professor McGonagall went to tell Professor Dumbledore that she had been found.

Eventually, Madam Pomfrey shooed the boys out of the room, telling them that Olivia needed her rest, although Olivia insisted that she wasn't tired. It didn't take long for her to drift into a nightmare-filled sleep once they had, in fact, left her.

She awoke to someone shaking her gently, faintly aware that she had been screaming. Olivia blinked and looked up into the kindly face and sparkling blue eyes of Professor Dumbledore. He frowned down at her, concerned.

"The nightmares are still happening, I see," he said sadly.

Olivia shrugged and replied, "Well, Professor, I'm still being hunted."

He nodded solemnly. "Yes, Mr. Black told me everything. Would you like to talk about it?"

She made to shake her head, but paused and then nodded.

"Very well," he sighed. "I can guess what you're going to ask me. You want to know why they took you."

Olivia nodded eagerly, which made her head hurt a bit, but she didn't care.

"I am afraid, Olivia, that is the one thing I cannot tell you, not yet. Your father and I have discussed this and we have agreed that you will be told when you are ready, and that time is not tonight. Just rest and know that you are safe. Also, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black have informed me of your troubles with Mr. Yaxley. He will be watched closely."

In spite of her efforts to be strong, tears welled up in Olivia's eyes.

"Please, no, he'll hurt me! They shouldn't have told you, now he'll hurt me!"

"He told you that to scare you, Olivia, but he won't be allowed to hurt you. He has only as much power over you as you allow him to have. Don't ever forget that." He took out a strange pocket watch with planets and too many hands. "But it is quite late and you ought to get some sleep. There's a potion here for you. Three swallows and you'll have a dreamless sleep, which I daresay you need."

She thanked him and drank the tasteless potion, smiling weakly at him as he smiled sadly back. The image blurred and twisted and she found herself giving in to sleep.


	22. Starting Over Again

**June, 1972**

When Olivia woke the next morning, Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, and her father were sitting on the next bed, playing Exploding Snap and eating eggs. She stared at them in disbelief. She was lying in a bed in the hospital wing, recovering from the effects of torture and being tied to a tree in the woods for three days and her father and best friends were sitting in a circle playing games and eating breakfast. She sighed and turned her face, where Mary and Lily had just entered, and carrying buttered toast.

They smiled when they saw that she was awake and handed her a few pieces of toast. Olivia jerked her chin at the boys, well, boys and her father, so really just boys, and said, "So tell me again why they're playing a rigged game of Exploding Snap instead of huddling around my sick bed?"

At the sound of her voice, the male population of the room all jumped and her father said, "I knew it was rigged, James, there was no way you could win that many times in a row!"

The other boys laughed as James feigned innocence.

"Really, Livia, I'm insulted that you should accuse me of such things! Rigging games of Exploding Snap! And we didn't huddle around your sick bed because you weren't doing anything interesting and after an hour we got bored. Sorry."

But he didn't look sorry. His cheeky grin didn't say sorry at all, but rather it just said that he was hoping Mr. Cromwell believe that he hadn't actually rigged the game so he'd want to play again some other time. Sirius and Remus, however, grabbed chairs and pulled them up next to her bed, opposite of Mary and Lily.

"How are you, love?" said Sirius, squeezing her hand as Remus petted her hair.

Olivia shrugged.

"I think I've been better. So, you never did say, how did you find me?"

"There was a note on Sirius's bed," said Remus, "and it just said to check the forest."

James cleaned up the card game and said, "Hey, did you ever figure out who sent the note?"

Sirius blushed a little and said, "Um, yeah, but I can't tell you. I promised I wouldn't tell."

Olivia pouted and said, "Aw, Sirius, why not? I can't even thank my savior?"

With a barked laugh, Sirius said, "Well, love, it's the same person who helped you the last time you were in here, with that curse on you. But I can't tell, I promised, and you wouldn't want me to break a promise would you? Just call Remus here your savior and we can call it a day, all right?"

There were many pointed looks exchanged at this, and Olivia didn't really understand what was going on until she saw Remus turn something like thirty shades of red. Then, it hit her. Remus had a crush on her. Oh, this could be fun.

She sat up a little and whispered sweetly, "Thank you, Remus." She kissed him softly on the cheek and he froze eyes wide with shock. If it hadn't been for the giggling girls, she might have thought she had just made his day, but he seemed to be more embarrassed than pleased. Her father was even chuckling.

"These boys really are something else. Have you invited them for the summer?"

Olivia shook her head, confused.

"Was I supposed to?"

"Well, boys, you're all invited, and you girls are as well, to spend the summer at the Cromwell Manor. Ask your parents if it's all right and then we can take you all from King's Cross if they say you can."

The girls politely declined, their families already having plans for their first summers back, but they said they would love to visit some other time, or for a short while during the summer. The boys, on the other hand, scribbled notes to their parents on the spot and sent Peter scurrying off to the owlery to send them off.

"Sir," said Remus slowly, "I think you ought to know…"

"I already know about your special condition, Remus," Mr. Cromwell said. "We have vast woods with no surrounding village. And our doors have excellent locks. I know your father, I'm sure everything can be worked out."

The girls exchanged confused looks, but were offered no explanation. Remus, however, looked quite happy. The girls left to tell the other Gryffindors that Olivia was recovering well, and the Marauders were enjoying the company of Mr. Cromwell, who was enjoying the stories of all their pranks, detentions, and parties.

"Merlin, you've been busy," he said, ruffling Olivia's hair, which just fell right back into place. "To think, all this accomplished and you're only twelve. Although, I'm sure your detention rate will lesson throughout the years, once you've had a bit more practice. And I'm glad you boys are keeping an eye on my little Livia. Slughorn's still teaching, yes? I seem to remember you writing me about the Slug Club?"

Sirius went into his best Slughorn impression, making all of them laugh, but Mr. Cromwell laughed until tears welled up in his eyes, commending Sirius on his excellent imitation skills. Somehow, Olivia found her fingers laced in Remus's, but she pretended not to notice, as he seemed not to have noticed yet. Her father even told them a few stories about his days at Hogwarts, and the pranks he had played with his friends. She had never known that her father was a prankster.

"So, tell me, what was the shampoo for?"

The Marauders all laughed. James told the story about their prank, with a little backstory on Snape and the Snivellus name. It didn't take much explanation for her father to appreciate their prank. His laughter was the loudest. Owls trickled in throughout the day, and it wasn't long until the last letter confirmed that all the Marauders would be spending their summer at the Cromwell Manor. The last letter was from the Blacks, of course, which told Sirius that he had better behave himself or they'd drag him straight home. He seemed to blanch at the thought, but Olivia didn't ask him about it. She knew he didn't get along with his family.

/-/

They spent the day talking and laughing with Olivia, and her father made her take the potion, though it wasn't necessary. Sirius had decided to sneak up to sleep with her that night, not wanting to leave her alone. The boys had decided they ought to continue their cycle, and it was his turn. However, once she took the potion, she fell to sleep right away and Sirius couldn't believe how peaceful and sweet she looked.

Mr. Cromwell stayed with them and watched her a little while before he had to leave.

"Now, young Mr. Lupin," said Mr. Cromwell, "it has come to my attention that you're rather smitten with my daughter."

Remus blushed a little and didn't say yes or no, though everyone knew he was.

"That's just fine, son, you seem like a good boy, and I know you'd treat her right, but I want to give you all a warning." His voice was strangely dark and serious, not like it had been the rest of the day, playful and happy. "She's got lots of powers she's not even aware of yet, and you'll want to watch out for them. There's the fact that she's descendent from sirens, so she's bound to be rather enticing. She'll not purposefully lead you into danger, but it'll happen at one point or another. And she's going to be a powerful Seer someday. I'll leave it up to you boys to make sure she takes Divination. If she can't get some sort of handle on those, life will be frustrating for her. There are other things, but they'd be hard to explain now. You'll know them when she decides it's time. She doesn't even know yet."

With that, Mr. Cromwell bid them goodbye and expressed his great hopes to see them all as soon as the train pulled in to King's Cross and kissed Olivia softly on the forehead before leaving them. The boys watched Olivia sleep until Madam Pomfrey kicked them out and Sirius threw on the cloak as soon as they got back to their dormitory and slipped back out of the portrait hole, down to the hospital wing, and into Olivia's bed. He wrapped his arms around her as comfortingly as possible and nuzzled up against her and whispered, "I'm so glad you're back, love," before kissing her neck and falling asleep with his arms around her.

When Sirius awoke the next morning, he came to an astonishing realization. He had a hard time sleeping when Olivia wasn't around. He wasn't bothered with the fact that someone else was sleeping with her, he just couldn't sleep if she wasn't in the room. It wasn't about her sleeping issues anymore; it was about his, and that worried him. Pretending nothing was wrong, he petted her hair as she rolled over to face him and fluttered her eyes open.

"Good morning, love," he whispered. "Remus will be here tomorrow night. I need to go before Madam Pomfrey finds me, but I wanted you to know we're here."

"Sirius," she muttered sleepily, "I don't like the potion."

"Why not, darling?"

"I don't have happy dreams. When I sleep with you, I have happy dreams, but when I sleep with the potion, I don't have dreams at all, and it's spooky."

He frowned. There she went about the happy dreams again. He kissed her forehead and said, "Well, you won't have to take it long, I think, love, just tell them you feel better and they'll probably stop you taking them. Will sneak down here and you'll get happy dreams instead of the spooky lack of dreams and everything will be fine. I'll be back soon. We get exam results soon, and Remus wants us to bring you yours."

She nodded and he kissed her cheek before crawling out of bed and throwing on the cloak. He made his way back to his dormitory, thinking over his predicament. She enjoyed sleeping with him. He needed to sleep with her. But tomorrow was Remus's night. How was he going to sleep without her? There was no way Sirius could tell Remus what Olivia had been saying, it would break his heart. But there was also no way Sirius was about to admit he couldn't sleep without Olivia in the room. She was his best mate, and her father also happened to mention she was part siren. James was right. That girl was going to be the death of them all.

/-/

A few days later, Olivia was let out of the hospital, and Sirius decided it was safer to let Remus go and get her, and help her get back to the common room. If Sirius could have gotten up the stairs to her dormitory, he would have packed all her things and had them ready for when they had to go home, but he couldn't, so he bugged Mary and Lily about it instead, until even Mary was irritated at him for being so obnoxious. James and Peter tried to distract him with games, but he refused. Instead, Sirius paced up and down the common room like the world was ending.

When Remus led her into the common room, it took all the strength Sirius had not to tackle her with joy. She was alive, she was walking around, and she was only leaning on Remus slightly, and Sirius suspected it was to make him blush, which was working. She smiled at Sirius tenderly and said, "Hey, you. Exam results in the morning."

Sirius frowned.

"I had forgotten."

Throwing back her head with a laugh she said, "Of course you did, Sirius. Ah, well, help me to the couch, Remus, come on."

Remus blushed harder as he set her down on the couch next to Sirius. Olivia leaned her head into Sirius's shoulder and sighed. "Well," she said, "I'm sure you have packing to do, Remus, I'm fine now. Thank you."

He nodded and left Olivia with Sirius, glancing back as he headed up the stairs. Once she was sure he was out of earshot, Olivia sprang up and danced around the room, causing Sirius to laugh.

"I thought the limping was for his benefit."

She nodded with a wide grin before sitting back down. "Yeah, I wasn't that beat up. But he's so funny when he blushes, I love it."

"Do you like him?" said Sirius putting his arm gently around her shoulder and pulling her into a side hug.

She shrugged and smiled. "I don't know, but you can bet I'm going to have fun with this until I figure it out."

"That's my girl," he said, hugging her tighter and tickling her until she squealed and writhed, trying to get away.

Remus and James ran down the stairs, worried looks on their faces and Sirius froze.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, guys, I was just tickling her. She's fine."

They both sighed and retreated back to their dormitory and Olivia groaned, laying her head in Sirius's lap, nuzzling her face into his thigh.

"They're going to be like that for a while, aren't they?"

After a brief hesitation, Sirius nodded. "I think they're always going to be like that. I know I will." She twisted on his lap uncomfortably and he petted her with a soft laugh. "I'll tell you a secret, love. We care so much about you that the thought of something happening to you terrifies us. I for one, and Remus as well, and I'm sure the others, die a little bit every time I see you being anything less than perfect, and that includes when you put on a brave face and fake happiness, because we can tell the difference."

She turned onto her back and frowned up at him.

"How?"

He shrugged and brushed the hair out of her face.

"We love you, silly. You're our Livia. We can't get another one, you know, so you'd better not let anything happen to you, missy."  
>She gave him a contented smile and purred a little, curling up and rubbing her face into his stomach. He petted her, happily, faintly aware of her father's warnings. Yes, she was certainly a siren. Poor Remus was opening a can of worms, to be sure.<p>

/-/

Remus tried to pack, but he couldn't do it. The only think he could think about was her leaning on him the whole way from the hospital wing to the common room. He thought of the pressure she put on his arm as she limped. He thought of her smile when he went to pick her up, and the kiss she had placed on his cheek as he helped her out of bed. His skin still burned where her lips had touched it. There was nothing he wanted more than to forget about packing and run back downstairs to be with her, sit next to her, hear her laugh. There was only so much more he would be around her before term was over. Yes, he would be going with her to her home, but it would be different. Her father would be there, and her little sister. He didn't know why, but he just knew it would be different.

Eventually, Sirius came upstairs and started absently throwing socks into his trunk. Remus froze and looked up at him.

"How is she?"

Sirius smiled him.

"She's just fine, Moony. Mary is helping her finish the rest of her packing and then she's going to take a nap. She's still tired from all the stuff they made her take in the hospital wing. But she's going to be just fine. She's really happy we're all going with her for the summer."

James snorted.

"As if we could just leave her after that happened. What sort of a friend would do that?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Well, Mary and Lily declined."

"That's different" said Remus. "They don't hang out with us in a group, just in their own trio."

"Besides," said Peter lazily from his wardrobe, "Lily looked terrified at the prospect of spending a whole summer with James."

Two seconds later, Peter had to duck as James's shoe went flying across the room at him with incredible velocity. Sirius rolled around on the floor with laughter and Remus just sighed, returning to his attempts at packing.

"I wonder what her sister's like," said Sirius, after he had calmed down enough to start chucking boxers into his open trunk.

"Ew, Sirius," said James. "Are you already perving on her little sister?"

"What? No! It's just we're spending the whole summer with her, I feel like it's not that weird to wonder what she's like."

"We're talking about feelings now?" said James, this time on the ducking end as Sirius's shoe went spiraling through the air.

"Boys?" called Olivia's voice from the other side of their dormitory door. "Are you playing nice in there?"

"No!" cried James in a whiny voice that sounded quite similar to a five-year-old. "Sirius is being mean to me!"

Remus could hear Olivia heave an exaggerated sigh and open the door with a grin.

"Sirius, apologize to James."

Sirius pouted.

"But he started it!"

"Actually," said Peter, "he did start it."

"Hey!" said James. "I only threw that shoe because you were teasing me, so technically, you started it, Peter!"

Olivia sighed, actually looking quite tired, and sat down on Sirius's bed.

"Boys, please. Aren't you supposed to be packing your shoes, not throwing them?"

There was much grumbling and shuffling of feet as they murmured vague apologies at each other, really only feeling bad because of how exhausted Olivia looked. Remus wondered if they did this with him, dropped all their quarrels and silliness when he was tired after the full moon, or grouchy before it. And he knew he was grouchy, as Olivia made a point of mentioning it every month.

She stretched out on Sirius's bed and sighed.

"It's weird to be going home. And it's weird to be taking you guys with me. Not that I mind," she added. "But it's a little weird."

Sirius nodded.

"I wish we could all just stay here all the time. I'm so much happier at Hogwarts than I am at home."

Remus froze, and the room got a little awkward. Sirius didn't like to talk about his home life, and none of them knew how much drama he was infusing into his talk about how much he hated it, but Remus got the feeling that added drama or not, it wasn't a pretty sight. Olivia's face grew sad and she beckoned Sirius to sit down with her which he did. She used her wand to slowly pack his things as she petted him with her other hand, soothingly.

Remus felt a shot of hot jealousy course through is veins and he wanted to rip Sirius's face off. He knew Sirius and Olivia had a strange friendship, everybody knew that from the second she started crawling into his bed over Christmas holidays, but Remus's subconscious saw it as a threat. He wasn't sure if it actually was or not, but he did know that Sirius had a girlfriend whom Olivia approved highly of, so maybe he really wasn't a threat. Either way, he didn't want Olivia's hand stroking Sirius's hair like that, whatever the reasoning behind it.

"Hey, Livia," said Remus, trying to give her a reason to stop petting Sirius, "could you help me with my books? I have a lot of them." He paused feeling incredibly insensitive and added, "That is, if you're feeling up to it."

She smiled warmly and said, "Of course, Moony. I'm feeling great!" She gave Sirius a kiss on the forehead and whispered softly, "To make it better," before sliding off his bed to help Remus pile books into his trunk so that they fit with everything else.

That one kiss on the forehead made Remus so furious that he wanted to lash out and rip Sirius's heart out through his throat, but he took a deep breath and tried to push the image of Olivia's lips on someone else's skin out of his mind. She wasn't his, and she had the right to kiss any forehead she wanted to.

Remus felt very confused that night, lying in his bed, watching Olivia curl up in James's arms. He wasn't jealous. He wasn't even the tiniest bit jealous. What was the difference between Sirius and James? Was it that Sirius was so unfairly good-looking? Was it that he hadn't pledged his undying love for someone other than Olivia? Or was it the fact that if Olivia had her way, Remus knew she would spend every night curled up in Sirius's arms like she was in James's tonight? He had heard her say, after all, that nobody made her dreams happier than Sirius, although she didn't know he was standing there when she said it. That stung, because there was nothing he could do to fix that.

/-/

Olivia woke up, eager for her exam results. She turned over and found herself looking in James's sleeping face and couldn't help but think that he looked so sweet and innocent when he slept. Looks could be very, very deceiving.

She carefully extracted herself from James's arms and rushed up the stairs to her own dormitory, where Lily was already away, and quietly got dressed and got ready for breakfast. She and Lily went down to the common room to talk for a little while before breakfast started, not wanting to wake anyone else up.

"So," said Lily, "how are you feeling? I never see you anymore, now that you're sleeping in the boys' dormitory every night."

The way Lily's eyebrows were raised seemed almost accusatory. Olivia made an exasperated noise.

"I'm fine, Lily, really. I think everything's going to be okay now. And you know perfectly well I'm not doing anything awful when I sleep there."

Lily frowned.

"Why do you sleep there? Isn't it messy and smelly and suffocating with all that ego in the room?"

Olivia laughed and said, "What are you talking about? It's a bit messy, and maybe a little smelly, but I don't mind that stuff. And what do you mean suffocating?"

"Oh, please," said Lily, rolling her eyes. "Between Potter and Black I'm surprised the other boys even have enough air to make it through the night still breathing."

"Actually," said Olivia timidly, "they're really sweet. They cuddle me, and hold me, and chase away my nightmares. It's why I'm not screaming anymore. That's why I sleep in their dormitory. It's better than waking up all of Gryffindor Tower every night."

They sat in silence for a moment and then Lily said, "Mary and I wouldn't have minded staying at your house, you know. It's just, with all those boys, and then us, it would be like we were all fighting for your attention. It didn't feel right. But I'd really like it if you and Mary stayed with me over Christmas holidays next year, if that's okay with your father."

Olivia lit up and hugged her little red-haired friend.

"I'd really love that," she said, grinning. "I love those boys, but I would really like to spend time with you guys! Plus I've never been to a Muggle house before. Are they very different?"

"I'm not sure," said Lily thoughtfully. "I imagine some things are really different, like the fact that we use electricity, and I'm sure you don't, but other things are the same. We use the same types of furniture and things."

"Maybe," said Olivia, trying not to blush. She knew now, from talking to Sirius, that her wealth was highly unusual. She was the heir to at least three massive wizarding fortunes, which would make her the wealthiest witch in Britain whenever her father died. Sirius's family was also quite rich, as was James's, but neither of them alone compared to all her fortunes combined. Though, Sirius liked to joke that she had to marry either him, James, or Lucius Malfoy to keep the tradition in her family of accumulating wealth going. He said there weren't many men she could marry who actually had enough to be worth the effort. She imagined Lily's house would look nothing like her manor in style or size.

"Anyway, Mary lives near me anyway, so we know the area really well. We could have a lot of fun."

"It sounds great, Lily," she assured her friend, whose face had grown nervous, probably wondering about Olivia's house and if she would compare. Olivia knew it wouldn't be fair to do that. Even the Potter Manor wasn't as nice as hers. It's not like she wanted to make Lily feel inferior, she didn't think that way, but she knew that there would always be that awkwardness. Sirius had explained to her that once you knew your friends didn't have all the things you had, you felt guilty sometimes, but the best friends didn't let you blame yourself. That's why he was able to be so confident, and she hoped she would be able to adopt his carefree manner.

At breakfast, they got the results of their exams. Somehow, Peter had managed to scrape through, and Olivia and Lily were top of the class, followed closely by Remus, James and Sirius in most subjects. Olivia threatened to make those two start to do their own homework, but they looked so pathetically upset when she suggested it that she decided it wouldn't hurt to keep doing it. She learned more that way, anyway.

Somehow, despite all the points the Marauders had lost, Gryffindor didn't come in last for the House Cup, the came in second to Ravenclaw. They cheered happily for the Ravenclaws, and Olivia watched Sirius congratulate a happily flushed Jiki Sitzer on the win after the feast. He gave her an affectionate hug and as he rejoined the Marauders, Olivia noticed that she and her best friends were squealing with excited delight.

"Sirius?" she said. "Why is your girlfriend squealing like she's just won the _Daily Prophet Draw_?"

With a shrug, Sirius replied, "Probably because I just hugged her."

"Wait," said Olivia, stopping him with her hand. "Are you meaning to tell me you've been dating this girl since February and you've just now hugged her for the first time?"

"Um, yeah," he said, confused.

"Sirius Black, what on earth are we going to do with you? You're positively hopeless!"

The other Marauders laughed at Sirius's puzzled expression.

"What did I do wrong?" he whined.

"Sirius, she's your girlfriend, you have to do more than hold her hand! I'm guessing you haven't kissed her yet?"

"EWWW!" cried James.

"Gross," said Sirius, screwing up his face. "Olivia, we're twelve, that's disgusting. I'm not catching her girl diseases by putting my mouth anywhere near hers."

"Oh, you're impossible," Olivia sighed. "Have you at least kissed her on the cheek? You've done that to me at least a hundred times and not caught a single girl germ."

"Um," said Sirius sheepishly, "no, not yet."

"Get on it, you pig," she cried, and they took off toward the common room again. What was she going to do with him?

/-/

On the ride back to London, the Marauders sat in their compartment, again, joined by the Sitzer twins, which meant that Olivia sat on James's lap to accommodate everyone. She had tried to talk Sirius into taking Jiki on his lap, but the idea seemed to strange to him. He then tried talking her into sitting on Remus's lap, but she said she didn't want to give him any ideas, so she sat on James, who could think nothing dirty of it.

As the scenes outside the window became tamer and more civilized, they took turns changing back into Muggle clothes, laughing, talking, and making jokes, reminiscing on all their pranks that year. Sirius watched Remus and Olivia, and wondered exactly what Olivia thought of him. If she played her little games that he watched her play and then Remus got shot down, Sirius would never forgive her, but on the other hand, he wasn't sure he would forgive her if she did date him, but he wasn't sure why. He just needed to stop thinking about it. It was messing with his head.

They finally pulled into the station, and Sirius and James grabbed Olivia's things, helping her out first before Sirius went back to assist the Sitzer twins, and finally, got his own things. They waited in line to leave the platform and go back through the barrier, where Mr. Cromwell was waiting for them, because if they all left at once, the Muggles would be sure to notice something. Eventually, they were at the front of the line and Olivia and Sirius went out first, followed by James, Remus and Peter. It didn't take long to find Mr. Cromwell and his excited younger daughter, Anne-Claire, who was bobbing up and down on her tiptoes trying to get a look at her sister's friends through the crowd. The warm greeting from a pair of friendly faces was overwhelming. Sirius felt, for the first time, that he was going to have a great summer.


	23. Diagon Alley

**August, 1972**

Sirius awoke for about the tenth time that summer to the sound of screams and rushed as fast as he could to Olivia's room, but he wasn't the only one, just the first one to get there. As soon as he arrived, he petted her hair, woke her up, calmed her down and held her scared, shaking body as tightly as he could. When Remus walked in, Sirius loosened his hold to allow him some access to hug and pet her as well. It didn't take long for Mr. Cromwell to come in and pull up a seat.

"This happens a lot, doesn't it?"

Olivia just shrugged at her father, but Sirius said, "It used to happen every night at Hogwarts."

"But I thought you wrote to me that the nightmares had stopped, Livia?" her father whispered, concern in his eyes.

"They had," she sniffed.

"Um," said Sirius, "she improved after we took some measures."

"What measures?" asked her father desperately.

"She slept in our dormitory," whispered Remus, glowing red in the moonlight with embarrassment.

"She rotated beds between me, Remus and James," explained Sirius, "because having someone hold her made the nightmares go away. We discovered it over Christmas, but it took us a while to get a system going that worked. There was a time where she didn't have a nightmare for weeks."

Peter Cromwell, the second most important man in all of wizarding Britain, considered the two young boys clutching onto his daughter and frowned before nodding.

"Keep that cycle going," he said, "whatever it takes to get her sleeping again."

Sirius nodded.

"Who do you want to be here for the rest of the night, Livia?" he whispered softly. "Anyone you want, I'll even drag James's skinny butt down here if that's who you want."

He knew what she was going to say before she said it, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to meet Remus's eyes, so he looked into hers as her mouth opened and she said, "You, Sirius, please."

Sirius nodded and pulled her back into bed as the others left. She had told him several times that her happiest dreams were with him holding her, and while he was glad that he could make her happy, it hurt to know that somewhere else in the Cromwell Manor, Remus Lupin was in the process of crying himself back to sleep, knowing Sirius was holding the girl he wanted to hold. How did this all get so complicated?

Holding her tightly, he heard her mumbling, and he thought she was talking to him. He leaned in over her to try to hear her sleepy words, but suddenly he realized that she was talking in her sleep, as far as he was aware, for the first time. At first, she just said Remus's name, softly and slowly, but eventually she started talking to Remus, telling him how sweet he was, telling him how funny he was, telling him she'd love to be his girlfriend, and thanking him for asking. Sirius should have been incredibly happy to hear this and thrilled to tell his friend, come the morning, but for some reason, there was no happy in him to apply to this occasion. Maybe Olivia had sucked it out of him through her skin for her dreams. Maybe that's why her dreams were happier with him: she sucked out all of his happiness. Damn siren.

At breakfast, Remus's eyes were red and swollen, a little bloodshot. Perhaps he hadn't slept at all. Perhaps he had simply lain awake all night, crying bitterly. Sirius squirmed in his seat. He had to tell Remus she was talking about him in her sleep, it wasn't fair not to. He did not, however, have to tell him about her accepting him as her boyfriend in her sleep, because maybe she wouldn't do that in real life. Sometimes you did things in dreams you would never do in real life, and after all, she didn't want to get his hope up, and neither did Sirius. Maybe she hadn't been asleep at all and just was using Sirius to play tricks with Remus's mind, hoping Sirius would tell him what he'd heard. Then again, Olivia wasn't _that_ cruel. Was she?

"Did you sleep better last night?" her father asked anxiously.

"Yes, I slept wonderfully," she said, before glancing up at Remus nervously. Nervously? Olivia was never nervous around Remus. "It's your turn tomorrow, Remus."

He nodded into his eggs, only half listening. That boy needed to know she was muttering about him in her sleep. Maybe she would sleep talk again. Maybe Remus would hear everything Sirius had heard. For some reason, this made him panic. Maybe he shouldn't tell Remus that he had heard anything. No, he had to; it was the only right thing to do.

As they gathered up their dishes and went about their business, Sirius grabbed Remus by the arm and dragged him to the nearest bedroom, checking it was empty before closing the door behind him.

"What?" asked Remus, looking surprised.

"I know you cried yourself to sleep last night," said Sirius, holding up his hand before he could protest. "I'm not judging you Moony, you're nuts about the girl and you wanted her to pick you, I get it. But Remus, don't give up. She talked in her sleep for the first time last night and she kept talking about you, complimenting you."

"She – she did?" Remus looked so small and pathetic, his eyes swimming with joy.

"Yeah, she did, and if you'd like, she might do it again tonight. Anyway, I thought you ought to know, because if someone I liked started talking in their sleep about me and you heard it, I'd want to know."

"Um, okay," said Remus, as though that sort of logic didn't really make sense. Sirius didn't know why it wouldn't. Even if it wasn't likely to happen, the logic still held.

"Do me a favor, Remus," said Sirius softly.

"Anything."

"Don't you dare hurt my baby sister or I'll rip your heart out through your throat."

They shared a smiled and shook hands on it, going back to join their friends for another happy day of summer vacation with the Cromwells.

The next morning at breakfast, Sirius noted that Remus not only looked much happier, but he seemed to be almost back to his normal self, or rather, the normal that settled in after he had developed that crush on Olivia. Crushes did weird things to boys and Sirius swore to himself to avoid them at any cost. Olivia probably still had no clue that she was talking in her sleep, poor girl, and they weren't going to tell her until they had to. There was too much potential for valuable information to go risking it by telling her. She might start censoring her dreams! That is, if one could do that sort of thing.

Just then, the owls came in with their Hogwarts letters. Anne-Claire gave each owl a grumpy look before picking up the remainders of her toast, shoving it in her mouth, and leaving the room in a huff. The boys all gave her a curious look, but Olivia just laughed.

"She's jealous because she doesn't start until next year," Olivia explained.

"My brother should be getting his owl now," Sirius said thoughtfully. He had forgotten his brother would be starting Hogwarts that year.

"Cool, a new Marauder," said Peter, but Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, my guess is a new enemy."

Olivia frowned at him. He had told them, he was sure, that his whole family had been in Slytherin, but that was probably a while ago and they seemed to have forgotten. In truth, Sirius Black was one of a short line of Black Family Misfits, the most recent being his cousin Andromeda, who was in Hufflepuff and desperately in love with a Muggle-born wizard named Ted Tonks.

"Well," said Mr. Cromwell, "it looks like I'll be taking you kids to Diagon Alley soon, then."

"Can I go too, dad?" said Anne-Claire from down the hall.

"Well, I imagine you'd drive Drizza crazy if I left you here two years in a row, so yes, but behave!" her father called after her and the boys laughed.

"You left her here last year?" said Remus.

"Yeah," said Olivia, buttering her fifth piece of toast. Sirius loved that girl's appetite. It made him look like a dainty eater. "My father's paranoid about taking us out in public. He thinks we'll be killed or kidnapped or something."

"Olivia," said her father, his face darkening with a warning.

"Well, you are," she said impatiently. "After my mother and her sister were killed, we didn't see anything but the Cromwell Manor and grounds until after I turned eleven."

"It's for your safety," he muttered.

"I know, father, but I'm just telling them the facts, I'm not judging your actions."

"Still, she'll have to go with us or she'll never forgive me," he grumbled into his tea.

"Well," said Olivia, "at least she'll get some ice cream."

"Ice cream!" cried James, jumping up with glee and running off toward the stairs.

"Um, James," said Sirius, "where are you going?"

Pausing to answer, James yelled, "I'm getting my cloak!"

"James!" said Olivia with a giggle. "We're not going today!"

"Oh," he said with a frown. "I really wanted ice cream."

"You do realize it's still breakfast time," said Sirius, snickering at his friend's embarrassment.

"Um, yeah."

"So no ice cream."

"Ice cream is a perfectly acceptable breakfast food," argued James.

"No, it's not, James. It's a dessert."

"No, James is right," said Olivia wagging her fork at Sirius reprovingly. "But only when it's paired with–"

"Waffles?" said James enthusiastically.

"Actually," she mused, "I was going to say pie, but waffles would work as well. Pie tastes better, though."

"That it does," agreed James. "Well, if there's no ice cream then I might as well go change. Quidditch time?"

"You're so going to lose!" said Olivia, before shoving her ninth piece of toast in her mouth and running off to her room to change. Remus and Sirius winced simultaneously.

"I suppose we'll have to play?" said Remus, setting down his juice with the casual air of someone discussing the weather.

"I suppose we will," said Sirius back, I much the same tone. "They can't really just play against each other, although if they could we'd never see them again, those two and their damn Quidditch."

"You know," said Mr. Cromwell thoughtfully, "Anne-Claire might be willing to play, if Olivia would let her and one of you would rather not. I know that only saves one of you, but she's eager to play Quidditch when she gets to Hogwarts, though not Keeper, but still."

"What does she want to play?" said Sirius, thinking to himself that he would probably be the one stuck playing with them.

"Beater, of course," said Mr. Cromwell. "Just like Olivia. It's a family tradition."

"Hitting murder weapons at people. Yup, that sounds like an Olivia thing to do," muttered Sirius under his breath and Peter and Remus laughed.

It wasn't that Sirius disliked Quidditch. He loved watching Gryffindor win as well as anyone. He just didn't understand the hype in playing. He was rather fond of his looks and would rather keep them intact than screw them up playing a game. Besides, being around Olivia and James and their love for the game made it difficult to be a fan sometimes. They were just so annoying.

He finished the last of his toast, feeling full and a little annoyed that Olivia had out-eaten him again, and he hurried off to find Anne-Claire, saving Remus from the embarrassment of being argued over like they fought about Peter when they played chess: who is more willing to put up with him.

/-/

Olivia skipped through Diagon Alley with a hand laced in James's hand, and the other in Sirius's, skipping merrily toward Quality Quidditch Supplies. Remus and Peter followed at a far less exuberant pace as Mr. Cromwell yelled to meet them at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to pick up their school things. He led Anne-Claire off for ice cream as the Marauders went merrily on their way.

As soon as they were able to drag James away from the racing broom displays, they ran off to Madam Malkins to get new robes for the boys, who had each grown several inches over the summer. Olivia froze, as soon as she stepped inside. There was a boy there who looked just like Sirius. When Sirius came in after her, poised and ready to tickle her, he followed her gaze to the boy and his mother and frowned.

"Regulus, Mother, I see you got your letter, congratulations."

"As if there was a doubt," said Mrs. Black coldly. "These must be your – _friends_."

That sniff in her voice was unmistakable. It was complete disdain. Her eyes surveyed them each before she turned to Sirius. "Well, aren't you going to introduce us? Or have you forgotten all of your manners since you were last home?"

"Not at all, mother," he said, through gritted teeth. "This is Peter Pettigrew. This is Remus Lupin. This is James Potter, of course, of the Godric's Hollow Potters, where I spent Easter holiday. And this is Miss Olivia Cromwell of the London Cromwells, but they reside elsewhere. As you know, it's her family I'm staying with this summer."

"Ah, yes," said Mrs. Black, eyeing Olivia with the most interest of all, "so _sorry_ about your – _incident_."

"Thank you, ma'am," said Olivia graciously. She knew how to behave in pureblood society. Her father had taught her well. She saw that there was no sincerity in those words, and she ignored it.

"Daughter of Peter Cromwell?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I remember when your mother and aunt died. It was a dark day for the pureblood community. Precious blood being spilt like that is always painful, but sometimes it is – _necessary_."

Olivia's eyes widened and Sirius's narrowed. Had Sirius's mother really just said that her mother had deserved to die? Yes, that was surely what had been implied, and she found herself wanting to rip this woman's hair out. Thankfully, the door opened to the shop and she didn't have to.

"Ah, Walburga."

"Peter," said Sirius's mother, eyeing Olivia's father with mild interest. "This is the other little one, I see. Is she starting Hogwarts this year?"

"No," said Olivia's father shortly, "I was across the street and saw that the boys were in here to get their robes and thought I'd come pay for them."

"Sirius, at least, doesn't need your charity, Peter, I assure you. The House of Black requires no dowry from the House of Cromwell."

Olivia had never seen her father so angry and Sirius was as well. Her friend stepped between her and his mother, as though he thought she was about to strike her.

"Mother, don't say things you know nothing about. He's being a good host."

"I thought, Walburga, it might be nice for your son to use his pocket money buying things he wants rather than things he needs. However, if you'd rather pay for him, since you're here, that is your business. You are, after all, his mother."

The ice in his tone was unmistakable. Mrs. Black dropped a handful of Galleons into her son's hand and grabbed the younger son by the wrist.

"Come, Regulus. Let's get your wand."

They got the robes for the boys and ran off to the joke shop before Mr. Cromwell made them get books. Anne-Claire still wanted to look at the animals, of course. Olivia wasn't in the mood for Gambol and Japes, however. She was still replaying the scene between her father and Mrs. Black, trying to figure out what had been said that made Sirius so upset. She couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was just his mother's presence.

The rest of the day, Sirius was much happier, and they Flooed home with their books. Packing their purchases away in their rooms, they went about the rest of the day playing games and telling jokes, as summer days should be spent, with, of course, the occasional harmless prank. That night, over delicious hot chocolate, Olivia thought she would ask Sirius as innocently as possible about the events with his family in Diagon Alley.

"So, what was that all about today?" she intoned, truly curious.

"What part?" asked Sirius bitterly into his hot chocolate.

"The thing about Blacks not needing stuff from Cromwells."

"Oh," he said, "you mean 'The House of Black requires no dowry form the House of Cromwell'."

"Yeah, I guess. What's that about?"

Sirius sighed.

"Well, she either thinks your dad thinks us getting married would do the Black family a favor, or she thinks that he's trying to up the status of the Cromwells but marrying us off. Either way, she thinks your dad is trying to marry us for social status."

"What?" cried Olivia. "But that's ridiculous. We're twelve years old!"

"Stranger things have happened in the pureblood community, Livia, and my mother was probably involved."

"Still, that's sort of disgusting. I mean, you're like my brother."

"Again, stranger things have happened–"

"Gross. That's just gross."

"Anyway," he sighed, "speaking of your love life, when are you going to ask out one Remus Lupin?"

She could feel crimson creeping into her cheeks. Damn him, she was hoping nobody knew about that. She was hoping no one had noticed that she was starting to develop a crush of her own. She just shrugged.

"I don't ask out boys, Sirius, he'd have to come to me."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"And if he asked you, would you say yes?"

"Depends on how he asked," she said honestly. Well, she liked the boy, but if he did it improperly, she'd have no choice but to say no until he figured out how to behave.

"Wait, are you going to tell me that there's a behavior protocol for that, too?"

Olivia frowned.

"Yeah, why?"

Sirius just sighed and downed the rest of his hot chocolate.

"You girls are so complicated. Well, come on, I've got to get you to bed or your dad's going to kill me."

"Yes, sir," she said, draining her own cup and following Sirius off to her room.


	24. Young Love

**August, 1972**

A few days before they left for school, Remus saw Olivia sitting in her room, laboring over a letter. He knocked lightly on the door and she started, thankfully pulling her quill of the parchment before he had caused her to jump, or he would have surely just watched her draw a line all over her carefully written letter and felt terribly guilty.

"Hey," she said, setting down her quill. "What's up?"

"Um," he said, "nothing important, was I disturbing you?"

"Oh, not at all," said Olivia with a smile. "Come in, Remus, please. I was just finishing my letter to Lily and Mary. Mary's birthday's tomorrow and I wanted to get her present sent off tonight, and she's staying with Lily this summer. Did you have something you were going to send her?"

"Oh," said Remus, "yeah, I did, but I'll just give it to her on the train or something."

"Are you sure?" said Olivia, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Was she nervous? "I can send it with my gift, since they owl's already going."

"Well," he said, shifting his feet a little. "I guess. I'll go and get it."

And so Remus got up and ran to his room to get the gift he had selected and wrapped for their school friend, Mary MacDonald, for her birthday. He took the well-wrapped parcel, which contained a book, of course, and rushed back to Olivia's room, where she was having a bit of a tiff with James.

"No, I won't, James. I'm not sending it."

"But why _not_?" whined James, sounding rather like a two-year-old, and not at all like the twelve-year-old he was.

"_Because_," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Lily is my friend, and friends don't send friends gifts from their stalkers. It's just bad manners."

Sirius, who was lounging casually on Olivia's bed, rolled over with laughter.

"Oh, don't worry, Livia, I've got nothing for Evans or MacDonald, but if you'd like, you can send Evans all my lack of regards in your letter."

"Okay," said Olivia turning to her letter. "Now let me think. Ah, yes, 'Lily, Sirius has just informed me that he's desperately pining for you and is planning to break up with Jiki to marry you whilst James has forgotten you exist and when mentioned he gets a look of disgust on his face.' Yes, that ought to do nicely."

Sirius really did laugh at that, mostly, Remus was sure, because he knew she would never actually write that, but James didn't seem convinced of this and a look of pure horror took over his face.

"You forgot Peter," said Remus as he came in, setting the gift next to Olivia's letter.

"Ah, yes, how silly of me, Remus, thank you," she said. "Hmm, how about, 'Peter's decided he wants to run away with the Giant Squid, but I haven't the heart to tell him about your decision to elope.'"

"Elope with who?" said Sirius, not following.

"The Giant Squid, of course," said Olivia, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

James, who had finally caught on that she was just messing with him, had begun fuming and telling her that it wasn't funny and why was she sending Remus's gift and not his, and that it was incredibly unfair and he was ashamed to call her his little sister. With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. Sirius just shrugged helplessly and followed him out, leaving Remus alone with a rather happy, giggly Olivia.

As soon as she finished her letter, she put the two gifts together and made a larger parcel, then tied the letter to it with a string and attached the whole thing to her father's owl's leg and told him Lily's address, which was also written on the envelope. Then, she crawled into bed and motioned for Remus.

"I'm tired, Remus, can we sleep now, please?"

His heart began to do strange things in his chest and he wasn't sure than any of them were healthy, but he just swallowed and nodded, crawling into bed beside her, pulling the covers over them, and wrapping his arms around her as she closed her eyes, snuggling into his chest.

"Livia?" he said softly, almost afraid to say it.

"Yes, Remus?" she muttered sleepily.

"I – I think you ought to know… I – I like you a lot."

He could see her smile up at him in the moonlight, her eyes half-open with sleepiness.

"I like you a lot too, Remus."

"No, I mean," he said, sighing, not sure how to express himself. "I mean I _like_ you. A _lot_. And I was wondering if…" How did one ask this sort of thing? He had never asked Sirius about how he asked out Jiki, although from the way Olivia teased Sirius about his relationship stupidity, perhaps it was better that he hadn't gone to Sirius for advice. "I was wondering if, maybe, you'd like me enough to maybe be my g-girlfriend?"

She was going to say no. He braced himself for the impending rejection, biting his lip furiously and ready to fight back the painful reactions to the rejection. But it didn't come.

Olivia smiled at him sleepily, gently lifted a hand to his face and kissed his cheek.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Remus," she whispered, and at first he though he heard her wrong, but as she snuggled back into his chest, he realized she had just said yes. Surprisingly, he couldn't sleep that night. He spent the whole night watching the moonlight dance across her perfect hair. He couldn't remember ever feeling happier in his entire life.

Remus felt a little groggy in the morning, wondering if he had slept at all, gazing down at Olivia's angelically peaceful face as she slept on his arm. Was she really his girlfriend, or had he just dreamt that? He wasn't sure. It felt as though it was too good to be true. Perhaps she had been tired and didn't know what she was saying. Maybe it hadn't really happened at all, and it was just a figment of his incredibly hopeful imagination.

With a contented sigh, she stretched and her eyelids fluttered open. Olivia smiled slightly when she saw him watching her, and he could feel the crimson creeping onto his cheeks. Her hand moved to his cheek, but she seemed awkward, as though she wasn't really sure what it was doing there or what she had meant to do with it.

"Good morning, Moony," she muttered, nuzzling her face into his chest lovingly. Lovingly?

It was true; this wasn't her normal behavior with him. She didn't behave this way with James, Peter, or Sirius. This wasn't playful and quirky, it was soft and gentle.

"Olivia, what happened last night?"

He wanted to make sure that it hadn't all been a dream, and this wasn't all in his head.

"You asked me to be your girlfriend, and I said, yes, silly," she whispered. "Any other dumb questions or can we go to breakfast now? I'm hungry!"

Still stunned that this was his new reality, a sick thought hit him as she started to crawl out of bed, out of his arms.

"Oh, no, what's your father going to say?"

Olivia shrugged.

"He likes you, I'm sure it will be fine. It's not like we're getting married or anything. My father's pretty cool when he wants to be."

"But he won't let me sleep in your bed anymore!" Remus said, truly distressed. Maybe he hadn't really thought this through.

"Remus," she sighed, "I doubt that. Now, come on, let's get to breakfast. I'm hungry!"

Remus nodded and left the room for a moment while she changed. He wondered what this would feel like, having her as his girlfriend. He wondered if things would change between him and the other Marauders, between her and the other Marauders, and between him and Mr. Cromwell. She said he would be fine with it, but Remus had never heard of a man being okay with his little girl beginning to date, and from what he could tell Olivia meant the world to Mr. Cromwell. After all, she was the exact replica of her mother.

When the door opened and Olivia came out in a jewel green sundress, Remus's heart started to pound. This was it. This was the moment of truth. She slid her hand in his and led him off to the kitchen, complaining the whole way about her immense hunger.

In the kitchen, they were met with all the other faces in the house, looking up from their eggs and toast. James looked at Olivia holding Remus's hand and his jaw dropped, revealing copious amounts of partly chewed toast, which wasn't a particularly attractive look for anyone. Sirius grinned and Peter looked a little confused. Anne-Claire made a gagging noise and muttered something about boy germs, and Mr. Cromwell didn't seem to notice, or perhaps he was acting as though he hadn't seen. James and Sirius began clapping and Remus could feel the crimson creeping onto his cheeks as they sat down, Olivia loading her plate before she had even made it all the way into the chair.

"How did you ask, Moony?" said Sirius, clapping him on the back.

"I just sort of said it," said Remus, embarrassed. "I didn't really plan it that way, it just sort of slipped out of my mouth before I could think about getting the words right and everything."

"That's always the best way," said Mr. Cromwell seriously, as though talking about how to deal with an infestation of garden gnomes. "Women always know when something's been too well rehearsed, and unless they really, really like you it makes them suspicious, best to just go with how you feel."

"But she's not a woman, Mr. Cromwell," said James honestly. "She's just a girl."

Mr. Cromwell grinned. "No, boys, she's a woman, and you'd best treat her as one, with all the respect afforded to one, or you'll get your ears properly boxed. The best advice for working with the fairer sex is to treat all of them gently, but not like they need protection. They're valuable, but not helpless. And always, always treat them like a lady, whether they've earned it or not."

"That sounds complicated," said James, pushing his eggs around on his plate, but the other three boys listened eagerly to the advice. They had all agreed a while ago that Mr. Cromwell was the type of man they all wanted to be – suave, powerful, talented, charismatic, brave, and principled. Sirius had even started taking notes on all of the advice they had been given over the summer. He had told Remus, without going into too much detail, that while some of the social advice was similar, it was mostly the opposite of what he had been taught at home, so all the more reason to idolize Mr. Cromwell. After all, from Diagon Alley it was fairly clear that the Blacks and the Cromwells were not the closest of friends. In Sirius's eyes, that was an extra point for Mr. Cromwell.

"Mr. Cromwell," said Sirius hesitantly, as though he wasn't sure he wanted to ask. "Is your family going to the events this year?"

"Events?" said Remus questioningly.

James frowned.

"The Pureblood events," he explained, his hazel eyes dark. "The most powerful pureblood families get together three times a year, and when there are major occasions like weddings, engagements, and coming-of-age parties. We go every year, and so do the Blacks. It's no fun at all."

Sirius nodded in agreement and Olivia tilted her head.

"Why haven't we ever gone, father?"

Mr. Cromwell answered tersely, "Because it's silly and pointless. There was no way I was going to expose you girls to all those awful people."

"Thanks, Mr. Cromwell," said Sirius dryly as he buttered another piece of toast.

"You know what I mean, Sirius," said Mr. Cromwell. "I mean, after all, your parents are a bit–"

"–Awful?" suggest Sirius, which received an assenting nod from Olivia's father.

"I just thought it might be nice to have a couple of friendly faces when I have to go," said Sirius bitterly.

"Well," said Mr. Cromwell thoughtfully, "I doubt we'll be going this winter, but perhaps next midsummer? At least you don't have to go this year."

"And I'm grateful for that," said Sirius with a sincere nod.

"Are they really that bad?" said Olivia through toast. "I mean, you get all dressed up and stuff, right? That's always fun?"

James grimaced and said, "Yeah, you always seem to forget that those types of things are always more fun for you than for us."

Olivia shrugged and pushed the toast into her mouth, saying as she chewed, "Let's go play Quidditch!"

Remus agreed to watch as his new girlfriend, her sister, and his two best friends played Quidditch, and he and Peter played a game of chess, or rather, Remus played chess and Peter watched himself lose with a look of nervous horror. Olivia and her sister beat down the boys with admirable thoroughness. James was so upset and he actually smacked Sirius in the back of the head, who glared at him and reacted rather stronger than Remus would have thought appropriate.

"What the hell was that for, James?" said Olivia with a frown as she landed gracefully beside to two bickering boys.

"Why can't you just learn to play Quidditch like a normal person, Sirius?" said James with a bit of bite to his voice. "We always lose!"

"Part of that's your fault, James," drawled Olivia, and Remus had to agree with her. She could beat James at any position, though she had no desire to become a Chaser and steal his coveted thunder. Sirius just shrugged.

"I like the game, mate, but I'm not a player," muttered Sirius, throwing himself on the ground and watching the chess debacle. "I'd rather commentate."

"Oh, you'd be good at that," said Peter, trying to sound casual as his queen was being pummeled by Remus's knight. Peter didn't like knights. He said they were tricky, and he never counted their path correctly.

"Oh, Peter, you may as well, give up," said Olivia sadly. "You're never going to recover from that. He's got almost all his pieces and all you've got is a castle."

"Yeah, you're done," said James with a snort. "How did you even do that?"

"I don't know!" said Peter in tones of despair. "I thought I was getting so much better. I don't understand!"

Remus sighed. "Oh, Peter; let's just call it a game. Go ahead and forfeit, I'm not putting you through the next four moves."

"Oh, Merlin, Moony, you had his demise planned?" cried Sirius.

Remus blinked.

"That's sort of the point of chess, Sirius."

Sirius just shrugged.

"Hey, guys, we leave for King's Cross tomorrow!" squeaked Olivia, excitedly. "Have you all packed?"

Remus looked around at the other boys, running fingers through their hair, rubbing the back of their necks, and suddenly incredibly preoccupied with their shoes. He didn't need to see their nervous behaviors to know they hadn't packed a thing yet. They never packed early. Olivia just laughed and said, "Okay, let's take care of that packing, then! That's our project for the day."

Packing went reasonably well, though in the process, James or Sirius would find some game they wanted to play, so they would all take out time from packing to appease the little princes, as Olivia called them jokingly, so what should have taken a few hours at most ended up taking all day and by dinnertime, they were all exhausted.

Sirius gave up his spot in line for keeping Olivia company at night so that Remus could spend more time with her before they were all stuck on the Hogwarts Express together for an entire day. Remus was surprised that he didn't even have to ask, Sirius informed him before he got the chance. He was even more surprised because he knew that Sirius and Olivia were incredibly close, almost like brother and sister, and he had overheard her say to Sirius more than once how her dreams were best with him. Remus had really thought that he would have to compete for her time and attention, but Sirius seemed to be willingly forfeiting. Maybe Sirius had been thinking the same things and decided not to tear up their friendship for Olivia's quirks.

Curling up with Olivia on her bed that night, Remus didn't want to sleep. He wanted to lay awake the whole night, watching Olivia sleep, nuzzled against his chest, her breath calm and peaceful. Everything was going to change. That was just the fact of the matter. Remus started to think about their group. Sirius was dating Jiki, although he said the Marauders came first, but Remus wondered if he might start paying more attention to her, like Olivia told him to do. James was obsessed with Lily Evans, and while it hadn't caused too many problems, Remus could just picture him taking off to stalk her if the obsession didn't die away naturally. And now Remus and Olivia were dating. Would Peter be willing to be their third wheel all the time, or would he go and find someone else to be his friends? Would Remus's new relationship spell the end of the Marauders? He hoped not, but things were changing so fast, he knew he couldn't count on anything.

Eventually, he drifted off into peaceful sleep himself. In the morning, he would deal with changes. For now, he and Olivia were simply two sleeping bodies, curled peacefully together in the moonlight.


	25. Back to Hogwarts

**September, 1972**

The next morning, the house was no longer the peaceful, carefree residence of a bunch of young students for their summer, and rather the frantic, panicked location of a bunch of young students who were about to take off for London to go back for fall term. The only one who wasn't dragging belongs out to the car was Anne-Claire, who was running around excitedly, getting in everyone's way until Sirius accidentally dropped his trunk on her foot when she was pestering him and James had to sit with her and calm her down until her father finished loading the car and could fix the toe Sirius broke (for which he profusely apologized, though Anne-Claire didn't stop glaring at him the rest of the day, as though he had planned it all). When they were finally all piled into the car and on the way to London, Olivia let out a great sigh and leaned her head on Remus's shoulder, lacing her hand in his.

Though the car was absolutely packed with people, it was practically silent all the way to London, except for when Peter sneezed. Anne-Claire had complained loudly about that, but when her father told her to hush and be polite, she was silent the rest of the way to London.

When they finally arrived at King's Cross, Mr. Cromwell and the boys unpacked the car while the girls went to get trolleys for the trunks. They took the barrier in twos, Olivia and Remus, James and Sirius, Peter and Anne-Claire, and then Mr. Cromwell close behind. James and Sirius loaded everybody's trunks onto the train and then hopped down to say goodbye to the Cromwells and thank Mr. Cromwell for allowing them to stay with him, and then the Marauders found themselves an empty compartment to wave out the window from as the train took off at exactly eleven o'clock.

"Okay, so what's the big plan for the feast?" said James looking eagerly from face to face, which were all staring blankly back at him.

"Um, James," said Olivia gently, "we aren't doing anything."

"WHAT?"

The other four Marauders laughed at James's clear outrage and horror. Sirius patted him on the back and Peter scooted over a little to avoid the wrath of James should he lash out. Thankfully, he did not, probably because he was in shock.

"We decided we're only in our second year, let's not get too overambitious, right guys?" said Sirius with a cheeky grin.

"But we're the Marauders!" cried James, waving his fist ridiculously in the air. "We are an unstoppable force of awesomeness! We will prevail!"

"Against what?" snorted Olivia. "I wasn't aware we joined forces to prevail against anything. And for the record, we're obviously not unstoppable, or that feisty redhead you're so nuts about wouldn't hate you so much."

"Livia!" he whined. "That's completely unfair!"

"How so?" she remarked, raising an eyebrow in a playful manner.

"It's just not. Can we please, please prank the feast?"

"No," she said in a very maternal way. "That's my final verdict, take it or leave it. We're not pranking the feast… this year. Next year we may. You'll just have to live with that. But we are doing a Halloween party, yeah?"

"Of course!" squeaked Peter. "Themed or just a party?"

"THEMED!" cried James, his vigor restored.

"Of course you'd want a bloody themed party," muttered Olivia, and Sirius gaped at her from across the compartment.

"Miss Cromwell, did you just say what I think you said?" he barked in a paternal tone.

"Maybe I did," she said, tongue out. "What are you going to do about it, Sirius Black?"

"Olivia Evelyn Cromwell!" barked Sirius. "Behave!"

"Make me, Sirius Orion Black!"

Remus froze. He didn't know Olivia's middle name. Sirius knew before him. How had Sirius known? How had Olivia known Sirius's? Wasn't that the sort of thing a boyfriend ought to know? And of course, she had such a pretty name. He knew he couldn't compete. His middle name was John. Sirius had such a pureblood name. He was willing to bet James had something interesting, too.

"What's your middle name, James?" said Remus, attempting a casual tone. James puffed out his chest.

"James Griffin Potter," he boasted. "My parents knew I was destined for Gryffindor."

The others laughed. Remus just shifted uncomfortably.

"What about you, Peter?"

Surely Peter would have a bland name. Everything about Peter was bland. It couldn't be that the blandest person in the compartment was Remus.

"Peter Mathias Pettigrew," said the boy with a frown. "It's terrible. They almost had it the other way around. Imagine, Mathias Pettigrew!"

Olivia just laughed.

"I think that would have been very distinguished, Peter. It sounds lovely. What about you, Remus? What's yours?"

"John," he mumbled, feeling a bit of crimson creep onto his cheeks.

"I love it," she said with a smile, sensing that he had a problem with it, no doubt, and giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek. Of course, just then, the door to the compartment slid open and who should stand there but everyone's favorite Slytherins, Yaxley, Malfoy, Lestrange, Avery, Macnair, Mulciber, and Sirius's cousin Narcissa, who was holding Malfoy's hand.

"Hello, pet," said Yaxley with a predatory smile at Olivia. "I've come to collect you to join our compartment, since I'm finished with my prefects meeting."

Olivia was suddenly braver than she had been the year before.

"What nutter made you a prefect?" she snorted. "Anyway, I'm staying here. I have no desire to join your mindless masses."

Sirius sniggered, but stopped at once when he saw the look that Malfoy was giving him.

"I don't think you understand me properly," said Yaxley, his eyes hardening. "You _will_ join me in my compartment, now."

Remus's eyes grazed the group of Slytherins outside their compartment. Seven to five. Clever of him to bring enough to outnumber them.

"I don't think you heard the lady," said Sirius with a growl, his eyes flashing with anger. "She's not going, now leave before I make you leave."

"Try me," said Yaxley with a smirk, pulling out his wand, but Sirius didn't bother with that. He leapt out of his seat and punched Yaxley straight in the jaw, which probably wasn't wise, as six wands were drawn on him in an instant. Remus groaned inwardly for his friend, though he noted that Olivia wasn't shrieking at him yet. Good sign.

Suddenly, the wands were shoved away with extraordinary quickness and a voice was heard from down the corridor.

"Black! Yaxley! Fighting on the train, eh? Ten points off, each of you. Now separate."

The Slytherins scowled, but they slinked off toward the back of the train and Sirius massaged his knuckles moving back into the compartment. Before he had a chance to slide the door shut again, a hand stopped it and Demi Bannister of Ravenclaw and Rhys Haynes of Gryffindor, the new Head Girl and Boy, were glowering down at Sirius.

"Now, I don't want any trouble from you, Black," snapped Bannister, whose voice had been the one chastising them for fighting. "Behave yourself this year."

Sirius gave her a charismatic grin and said, "Oh, sweetheart, you couldn't handle me if I wasn't behaving myself." He gave her a roguish wink and she stared at him for a moment, her jaw dropped. A twelve year old had just hit on her. She looked as though she wasn't sure that it had actually happened, but when she had apparently decided that it had indeed happened, she squeaked indignantly and trounced off angrily. Haynes waited until she was out of sight before laughing lightly and rubbing his temples.

"Marauders, right? Frank warned me about you guys. Please, promise me you'll not go out of your way to make my life difficult? I'd love it if Gryffindor could win the House Cup under my watch."

"Sir, yes sir!" said James and Sirius, saluting him sharply, which caused laughs all around.

"Oh, by the way," said Haynes before leaving them in peace, "Cromwell, the Prewett twins send their love, and Fabian wants me to give his princess a wink and let you know he misses you."

Sirius's jaw dropped and Remus's grip on her hand tightened possessively, but she just laughed.

"Tell Fabian to watch his tongue and keep it in his mouth, the rogue!"

"Will do," said Haynes, and this time, he did leave. He had barely shut the door, however, when Sirius rounded on her.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT? WHY ARE YOU TELLING PREWETT TO KEEP HIS TONGUE IN HIS MOUTH? WHY IS HE MISSING YOU?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him coolly.

"I wasn't aware my personal life is any of your business, Sirius, but since you think you must know, it's an inside joke, and he says that because we're friends and that's what friends say. He likes you, Sirius. He told me you ought to try to fill his position as Quidditch commentator. He thought you'd be good at it. I think he's right."

James snorted.

"Oh, yeah, that's just what his ego needs, a position of power."

"You're one to talk about egos, Potter," said Lily, whose face was looking as red as her hair as she looked in at them from the doorway, surrounded by Margery and Mary.

"Hello, ladies," said Sirius. "Care to join us? It's a little tight, but I'm sure some lap sitting could be arranged." He wriggled his eyebrows and Olivia threw her shoe at him, which he deftly dodged.

"Says the boy with a very sweet girlfriend," she said, disgusted. "Came for any reason, or could Lily just not resist the pull of James's charisma?"

"Don't encourage him," muttered Remus, which brought everyone to roaring laughter but James, who stammered that his charisma had great pull, thank you very much.

"I heard Gryffindor has already lost points, Black, and they say it's your fault," said Lily accusingly.

"Actually, Evans," said Sirius languidly, "Slytherin and Gryffindor have already lost points, and I'd say it's Yaxley's fault for thinking he can waltz in here and kidnap Remus's girlfriend. Bloody git thinks he can order Livia around like his bloody slave."

"Tongue, Sirius Orion Black," said Olivia with a smirk, before realizing Margery was standing there, who was probably going to write Sirius's initials all over her books now that she knew them. Sure enough, the girl squealed, but not for the reason Remus had thought.

"Remus and Olivia are together? Since when? How did he ask? Or did she ask? She is rather modern, you know."

"No she's not," said Mary with a snort. "Livia's about as traditional as they come, you idiot."

"We'll get the details later," said Lily with a huff. "The point is, if you four lose the cup for us, I'll flay you all in your sleep."

Several jaws dropped at this, but Peter was the one brave enough to squeak, "Four of us? There are five of us."

"I'm well aware," said Lily, "but Remus is occasionally a productive member of society."

"HEY!" cried Olivia. "I thought you were my friend, Lily!"

"I am," said the redhead with a shrug. "But you spend far too much time in Potter's bed for me to spare you should I be forced to flay people."

"Actually, I'll likely be sleeping with Remus now," muttered Olivia. "I'll talk about it later."

"Of course," said Lily, as though they were in the middle of some sort of business transaction. "Well, we're going to head back to our compartment now. We'll see you at the feast."

"'Bye, ladies!" said James eagerly, watching them go with a look of loss on his face. For a moment, Remus thought he was going to go after them.

"Well," said Sirius, "now that that's over, let's start planning how we're going to get at the Slytherins this year."

Olivia groaned.

"Sirius, I don't want to think about them! I want to plan a fabulous Halloween party, not obsess over loser Slytherins! They've already taken up more of my life and time than they're worth!"

Sirius's eyes darkened, as Remus was sure his own had done, and he nodded sharply. Peter, being the savior of the moment, squeaked, "Do we have any theme ideas?"

"How about…" they all watched James intently as he strained to think of the perfect idea, but then he shook his head hopelessly. "Nope, I've got nothing."

"Naturally," said Olivia with a slight sniff. How did she do that? Olivia never had a thought in her pretty little head about the fact that she was superior, but everything she did practically screamed that she was too good for Remus, and nearly everybody else in England, and she was perfectly justified in acting so. Really, Remus knew that if Sirius wasn't such a rebel, the two would have been betrothed and on their way to being the most envied couple in wizarding Britain, despite what James thought about him and Lily being the 'Golden Couple' once she realized she actually was crazy about him. Remus nearly snorted at the thought. Actually, she could have easily been betrothed to James, as well. Even he would have made a more suitable match. After all, he was human every night of the year. Or at least, he was what the law classified as human, even if he didn't always act it.

"Remus?" said Sirius, and he snapped out of his thoughts, looking up at Sirius. "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry," said Remus sheepishly, "I wasn't listening."

Olivia sighed.

"Remus, we decided to make it celebrity themed, where people come dressed as their favorite wizarding or Muggle celebrity. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds lovely," said Remus, but Sirius and James were eyeing him strangely, as though they had been counting on him to turn down the suggestion.

"Remus," said James with narrowed eyes, "let's take a walk. I'm hungry and I'm sure you want some chocolate."

"Oh!" cried Olivia. "I'll come too, I'm starved."

"No, no, Livia," groaned James. "Just tell me what you want; I'll get it for you."

Ten minutes later, when Olivia had written up a comprehensive list of what she wanted and gave him the gold for it, because, to quote James, "I may be rich, Livia, but I'm not spending that kind of gold on you for a non-gift-giving occasion," Remus and James set off in search of the woman with the tea cart.

"So," said James. "What were you spacing out over in there, might I ask?"

"It's nothing," mumbled Remus self-consciously.

"Oh, I'm guessing it's not nothing, Moony," said James as they strode up the train, looking around for Lily as they went, Remus was sure of it.

"Well, I was just thinking about Olivia."

Suddenly, James's hand smacked the back of Remus's head.

"She's my baby sister, you perv."

"No, not like that," Remus said, appalled that James had thought he meant that, but also amused at James's protective reflexes. He really thought somewhere deep in his mind that she was his little sister and therefore required his protection. That was sort of sweet. "I was thinking about how I don't deserve her."

"How so?"

So Remus sort of explained his thoughts about how he'd never be able to provide her with the glamorous life she deserved, not like he or Sirius could. He told James that he felt guilty for taking her out of the social life she would have been the queen of.

"There's one thing you've got to realize," said James seriously. "She'd hate that. Olivia likes to dress up, and she would love that part of the social world, but it's not all balls and glittering dresses. There's a nasty underbelly to the pureblood world, and that nasty underbelly is what got her kidnapped and tortured in June. That underbelly is the reason Sirius spends as little time at home as possible. It's fine if you know when to put your head down and put up with it, but those two have never been good at it, and for people like them, it's not safe."

"Is Sirius okay?" Remus frowned. "I mean, going home over breaks and stuff?"

James just shrugged.

"He hasn't said they're hurting him, but I think they probably are. He'll get out when he has to, I'm sure."

"I hope you're right," muttered Remus as they opened the door and reentered their compartment, which had an additional person in it. Sirius's brother, Regulus, was sitting in the seat by the door, looking around nervously, as though he wasn't sure if he was allowed to be with them.

"Hi, you must be Regulus," said James in an almost kind voice, and the boy gave them a jerky nod. He looked like a weaker version of Sirius, with less defined features and slightly shorter hair.

"Well, Regulus," said Sirius dryly, "we'll be there soon, so you'd best be changing."

The boy hurried off to get his things and change and Remus and James started when they realized Olivia was already in her robes.

"When did you change, dear?" said Remus lightly.

"Oh, while you were out," she said with a wave of her hand. "James, darling, do you have my food?"

James tossed her the ridiculous amount of food he purchased for her, and she didn't bother paying him for it. They both had so much money that it had been a drop in the bucket. Remus flinched at the thought of the amount of his own pocket money. He may be a pureblood, but there was nothing grand about being a Lupin.

The train slowed to a stop at Hogsmeade Station and the boys rushed onto the platform, helping Olivia down after them, and rushing through the crowd to be the first to the carriages. They seemed to have no horses, and the five of them climbed into a carriage, followed up by Sirius's girlfriend, Jiki Sitzer, who caught them up on her summer with her twin, Kiki, as they rode to the castle.

"Are either of you trying out for Quidditch, Jiki?" said James with eyes alight. All it took was talk of Quidditch to make James the happiest man on the planet.

"Oh, yes," said Jiki with an eager nod. "Our older sister, Gracie, is the captain of the Hufflepuff team this year. She's a Chaser, but we both play Keeper."

"I think you both stand a good chance," said Olivia with a nod. "As I remember, you were both excellent fliers. Is Quinones captain of Ravenclaw?"

"Yes," said Jiki with an eager grin. "And Bakester is captain of Gryffindor. He's the only Seeker captain this year. I think he'll do a fine job, although the team is fairly weak. Is Mary going to try for Keeper? I think she'd be quite good."

"Yes," said Olivia with a smile. "She was planning to. Are we expecting a win from Slytherin, or do you think Ravenclaw's got a shot at the cup again this year?"

Ravenclaw had lost bitterly to Slytherin in the final match, but had won the cup by a slim twenty points.

"Oh, yes, I think we have a good chance to pull it out," remarked Jiki casually out the window. "Oh, look, the castle! We've arrived!"

They clambered out of the carriage, up the stone steps, and into the Great Hall, where Sirius gave Jiki a quick peck on the cheek before joining his friends at the Gryffindor table. His expression was grim, and they all knew what was on his mind. His brother was about to be sorted.

When the first years were finally brought in, Remus spotted the nervous face of Regulus Black in the crowd next to a curly-haired youth with bright blue eyes and a sandy-blonde haired boy. The hat sang another boring song, but they gave it rapt attention, and then the Sorting ceremony began, Professor Slughorn calling the names alphabetically.

"Baird, Jethro!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the hat, and a nervous looking boy with an odd-shaped head moved to the Gryffindor table.

"Black, Regulus!"

He had been awfully soon in the order. Regulus moved his way over to the hat, and it spent very little time on his head before screaming, "SLYTHERIN!"

Sirius's face fell and became rather sour and Olivia eyed their friend sadly. Regulus was being greeted by a group of Slytherin boys who had spent the last year following Olivia around and making her a nervous wreck. This didn't bode well.

"Bolton, Malachi," was then sorted into Gryffindor, followed by "Brood, Jonas" to Hufflepuff and "Brown, Lois" to Ravenclaw.

"Campbell, Peninnah!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Remus zoned in and out. He didn't know anyone else being sorted, so as long as they had a fair number of Gryffindors, he was happy.

"Caron, Pontius!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Gordon, Zalmon!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Houghton, Leonardo!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Goldstein, Nerissa!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Rouse, Wenzel!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Steele, Celestine!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Toth, Felicity!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Trotwood, Europa!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Yap, Lucette!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Yong, Tatyanna!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Houses actually had even numbers in this year, effectively, as Remus noted. He thought there might be a person or two less in Slytherin, but he wasn't really watching that closely. Professor Dumbledore said a few words and they dug into their feast, which was delicious. Olivia's house-elf, Drizza, could cook a wonderful meal, no doubt, but there was nothing that could beat Hogwarts fare. Olivia seemed to agree, and she began to eat as though she hadn't consumed nearly half the trolley on the train ride over.

After they had start of term notices, they got the password from Gryffindor Prefect Tiberius Merkle, who sat nearby, and went off to their dormitories. Olivia ignored Remus's pleas for her to stay with him, saying she needed a bit of bird time, and tore off to the second year girls' dormitory. He watched her walk up the stairs and then moved sleepily to his own dormitory, crawling into bed and being incredibly tired, but completely unable to sleep. He hoped Olivia could get a good nights' sleep, for the first time in a long time, without needing someone's arms around her, because no one in Gryffindor would appreciate being woken up by screams the first night back to Hogwarts, the night before classes started up again.


	26. The Darkness Closing In

**October, 1978**

Olivia turned over to smile down at Sirius as he slept, his mouth a little open as he breathed in and out peacefully. Gently, she pressed kisses along his collarbone, not wanting to face the fact that the sun had risen and Wormtail and Dorcas would be expecting her. A moan escaped from his open mouth as Sirius's arms wrapped instinctively around her. With a contented sigh, she allowed him to cuddle her as he woke up, blinking and smiling a little bit.

"Good morning, beautiful," he whispered, kissing her nose affectionately. "You look especially lovely this morning."

She snorted, knowing he was just happy that she hadn't hexed him after the ridiculous tattoo he had gotten at James's "Prongs Party", as they had dubbed his stag party. It had seemed fitting, and Olivia had actually taken to referring to the hen party as the "Doe Party" with the boys.

"I have to go," she sighed as he began placing kisses down her neck. "They're waiting for me by now."

"But you'll be gone so long," Sirius whined, nuzzling his nose against her collarbone. "What will I do without you?"

"See Remus for tea and moan about how lonely you both are," she suggested with a chuckle, pulling free of his grasp. "Now I really need to go, so could you please make me a quick breakfast as I get dressed and get my things together, love? Good boy."

He snarled at her as he backed out of the room and called, "Just because I can turn into a dog doesn't give you the right to speak to me like I'm one."

She just shook her head and smiled, pulling on a pair of jeans and a scarlet long-sleeved shirt Lily had gotten for her for her sixteenth birthday. Throwing a few last minute things into her travel pack, namely a toothbrush, toothpaste, and the necklace Sirius had gotten her for Christmas their fifth year, she wandered downstairs for breakfast. The eggs were nearly done.

"Mmm, smells delicious, darling," she cooed, kissing his lips lingeringly, causing him to drop the spoon he was using to scramble the eggs and move his hand quickly to her cheek, pulling her in to a more passionate embrace.

She pulled away after a moment, sticking the spoon back in his hand as he moaned in protest, pulling out plates for the both of them.

"Hurry up, love," she said softly. "I have to go soon. I can't be late."

"You already are," he pointed out.

"Later than I already am," she snapped impatiently. "Just hurry, love, please."

He just smiled a tight, forced sort of smile and dished her a plate full of eggs, which she promptly downed. This was one thing she was sure she'd never do without: breakfasts with Sirius. He gave her another plateful and she gobbled it eagerly up, kissed him goodbye, grabbed her things, and ran out the door before Apparating to Dorcas's flat.

"You're late," Dorcas said with a grin, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Olivia sighed. "Sirius and I were celebrating his tattoos last night and it wore me out."

Peter snickered and Dorcas just shook her head.

"I don't even want to know, okay? I'll just leave it at that. C'mon, the Portkey's over here."

They spent days travelling the continent, visiting contacts of Dumbledore and collecting intelligence and passing along messages. Peter stayed in rat form most of the time, playing the part of Olivia's pet and acting as their secret eyes and ears. He wasn't very good with languages, but Dorcas had a portable Pensieve and they were able to go through his memories every night and translate, searching for anything of importance. Usually, he didn't find anything useful, but one night he had unknowingly saved their lives by scampering through the right place at the right time. The trio had left Venice early, needless to say.

A week into the mission, they found themselves in Serbia, near the Albanian border. Neither Olivia nor Dorcas new Serbian, but they had practiced little bits along their journey. This would be their most important location.

"Опростите," Olivia said to an elderly woman as kindly and clearly as possible. "Ли ви говорите енглески?"

The woman simply smiled up at her as someone appeared beside her. It was a familiar face, of course, but the voice was damning.

"Good afternoon, Olivia," drawled Lucius Malfoy. "As it so happens, I do speak English. Come with me."

He was holding out his arm as if expecting her to take it willingly, but Olivia just regarded it like a snake poised for attack.

"Lucius," she said stiffly. "I'm afraid we are otherwise engaged."

She took a step back and walked right into a solid body. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. The smell of his smugness, his eagerness, the aura of the thoughts he was having about her… Yaxley. Lucius grabbed Dorcas's arm and a hooded man latched onto Peter as Yaxley grabbed Olivia's forearm.

"I think you'll find our offer more compelling," Lucius hissed, and they all Disapparated.

Olivia found herself standing in the forest, a similar place to the Forbidden Forest, in many respects, except that it was somewhere in the Balkans, not in Scotland. Bellatrix was there, and Eva.

"Glad you could make it," Bellatrix smirked. "He's nearly here, I've called him. Well hello there, pet," she cooed at Olivia. "It's been a little while, now, hasn't it? Missed me?"

Not sure what else to do, furious and terrified all at once, Olivia spat at Bellatrix, whose smirk turned into a furious snarl.

"You know, sweetheart," she hissed, "I am most certainly looking forward to torturing your will away, teaching you your rightful place. You're nothing but a filthy little blood traitor whore."

"Now, now, Bella, play nicely," came a high, cold, clear voice from behind Yaxley, who was still gripping Olivia tightly. Voldemort strolled into view, and the Death Eaters acknowledged him reverently. "She is, after all, a guest," he continued, turning to Olivia and fixing her with his red eyes, his chilling stare. "No Sirius, I see. So the two of you aren't inseparable after all. Good, that will make things so much easier."

Olivia didn't have to ask what he wanted with her. They had been in this situation enough times that those words did not need to be said. It seemed he was past the point now of believing she would join him or submit willingly, and now he was simply taking what he wanted without even bothering with the pretense of offering her the option of coming willingly.

"Very far from home, are you not?" he hissed. "And these woods are so thick and deserted, there's no one to hear you scream but a few animals. But do not worry, they will not hurt you." His red eyes glittered. "That is _my_ job."

She shivered in spite of herself, but refused to speak, refused to give him the satisfaction. Besides, there was nothing to say.

"Now, who do you have with you this time? Ah, yes, little Pettigrew, and Dorcas Meadowes."

The lack of fear on Dorcas's face was impressive enough, but there was literally no scent of fear around her, either. Olivia had faced Voldemort more times than almost anyone and she still shook with fear every time, but here Dorcas was, never having met him before, and standing there completely absent of fear.

Peter, on the other hand, was visibly shaking and reeked of fear. Or maybe he had wet himself. Probably both.

For several hours, Olivia found herself being tortured, yelled at, groped, and demanded to obey, but she resisted everything. Voldemort attempted to break into her mind, but her barriers were strong. She would have to remember to thank her Divination professor, when she got a moment, if she ever made it out of this particular situation.

It was well past nightfall when the opportunity presented itself. The three prisoners were bound and grouped to one side while the Death Eaters were having dinner.

"Do you still have your wands?" Dorcas breathed, and Olivia and Peter nodded slightly. "I think I've got a plan, a distraction. You two Apparate back to Headquarters and I can hold them off, come when I get the chance. I know it's a long way, but Livia, you can manage it, and you can take Peter by Side-Along. Can you grip his hand? Good. Okay, just go as soon as I get their attention. Don't hesitate. We might not get another chance."

Olivia grasped Peter's hand tightly, which was sweaty and shaking. She didn't like the plan, but every plan of escape had to have a vulnerable party, a weak point. Dorcas had to be the weak point. Peter wasn't brave enough and Olivia couldn't afford to be left behind, to remain captured. As much as Olivia hated the thought, Dorcas was their only hope.

Their only hope straightened out her body and began to roll along like a log, attracting the attention of the Death Eaters as she struggled with her bindings. Olivia struggled to stand and pulled Peter up with her, turning on the spot and barely concentrating on her destination as she saw a flash of green light.

Peter and Olivia landed on the front steps of Headquarters knowing that Dorcas would not be following after. Voldemort had raised his wand at her, and he would kill her. Once he set his mind to killing someone, they would be dead sooner or later. Dorcas was tied up, her wand not at the ready. Her death would come sooner.

It was then that Olivia realized Peter had been splinched. He had half a finger missing and he was whimpering in pain. She cursed loudly, calling the attention of Elphias Doge, who had been in the other room. He quickly began helping Olivia tend to the splinched finger, fixing it almost as swiftly and effectively as a member of the Department for Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

"Where's Dorcas?" Elphias said kindly as he sifted the blood off Peter's newly healed finger. "We didn't expect you back this soon."

Olivia bit her lip and sighed. Peter gave a whimpering sort of noise.

"I see," Elphias said perceptively. "I'll go and call Albus, then. Why don't you to wait in the next room for him?"

Feeling dazed, going through the motions, Olivia nodded and made her way into the next room, Peter in tow. All of the good they had done, all of the progress of their mission, felt strangely empty and pointless knowing how it had all ended. Elphias made them some tea as they waited for Dumbledore, who arrived about ten minutes later and sat down across from Olivia at the table.

"We can discuss the rest of the mission at another time," he said softly. "For now, let us stick with the matter at hand. What happened?"

Olivia recounted the situation, from the moment they ran into Lucius Malfoy until their escape in as much detail as she could bring herself to convey. Albus was quiet, contemplative, and thoughtful as always as she told the story of Dorcas's death, and Peter looked as though he were about to be sick. Finally, she looked up at Albus, the story complete, and waited for him to speak. After several minutes, he said, "We need to find the leak and close it, before we lose another life like this."

"You think we were compromised by whoever the spy is?" Olivia breathed, sitting forward just a little.

Albus nodded gently and stood, pacing the length of the room several times before saying, "I will think more on the matter, on the implications, and I will inform you at the next meeting what we have planned in regards to both tightening security and Dorcas's memorial. It will be, unfortunately, impossible to retrieve the body, if they've left it in tact. I shall contact her family, deal with the arrangements. In the meantime, Livia, I will be expecting a full report from you sometime tomorrow. Just come to my office when you feel up to it. I don't expect you any time before three, as I'm sure Sirius will want to prove just how much he missed you while you were away. I think you'll sleep until then, at the very least. You should both go home now, get some rest. Peter, I had Dedalus check in on your mother while you were away. She's not improved, unfortunately, but her health has not gotten any worse, and that is something to be thankful for, I think. Good night, both of you."

They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, Olivia Apparating straight to the kitchen of their house, afraid to arrive outside the building, just in case there were Death Eaters expecting her to do so.

The house was dark, and that old familiar feeling Olivia had had as a small child, that feeling of the darkness watching her, crept up on her suddenly, causing her to run through the house as quickly as she could, shivering with indescribable and only partially irrational fear until she reached the bedroom, saw Sirius sleeping peacefully on the bed and not hesitating to leap onto the bed beside him frantically, crawling under the covers hastily and gripping him as though her life depended on his presence.

He stirred, of course, and turned over, blinking at her.

"Livia?" he muttered. "You're not here, I'm dreaming. You're not supposed to be back yet."

"No, sweetheart," she sighed, allowing his arms to wrap around her, protecting her from the inexplicable fear suffocating her. "I'm really here. I don't want to talk about it right now, but I'm here."

"Did it go okay?" he murmured, nuzzling his face against her neck.

She petted his hair gently and shivered again, causing him to pause and stiffen slightly.

"I'll tell you about it in the morning, all right?" she whispered, pressing her lips to his. "I just want you to hold me, okay? I've missed you."

With a grin she could feel against her skin, he kissed her cheek and muttered, "I've missed you, too, beautiful."

In reality, Olivia knew she was hardly safer in his arms than out of them, but somehow the feel of his warm body encasing her, his hot breath on her neck, his heart beating in his chest, made her feel so much more protected than she had standing alone in the dark kitchen, the blood in her veins running cold. There was probably no one there, in or outside of the house. It was the darkness playing dirty tricks on her, the trauma of what she had witnessed mere hours earlier, the knowledge that someone she had barely met a few short months earlier would never be coming back, all of those things getting inside her mind and making her paranoid, making her shake like a child again, afraid of boggarts in the closet.

Boggarts… she would check the kitchen cupboards in the morning, just to be safe.

She wondered what Albus would tell Dorcas's family, wondered what one said in a situation like this. He had been the one who had told her and her father about her mother's death, and although it had been many years ago, Olivia could still remember it clearly, as though it were merely the night before. Her mother had been missing, just as her aunt had been before, and the strange man who was friends with her parents had come. Olivia was supposed to be in bed, but curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she asked what was going on, when her mother was coming back.

Albus Dumbledore was truly brilliant, and had managed to tell the confused little girl in the perfect way that her mother had been killed by some very bad men and that she would not be coming back. Olivia could remember the tears streaming down her father's face, Peter Cromwell, the man made of iron, crying. She remembered asking if the bad men would be caught, punished. Albus Dumbledore had said they would do their best.

But the men were never caught. Olivia had asked her father several years later if they had ever found the men, if they were in Azkaban, and while they thought they had found them, nothing could be proven and they had been released. No one had ever been punished in her mother's murder.

Except, when Olivia's mother had died, it was different. There was no war. Dumbledore had not asked her to leave her family, her friends, and go on a dangerous mission for him. She had simply left for her own reasons and never came back. Dorcas's death was completely different. From the point of view of a parent, a sibling, a husband… Olivia could see how someone might even blame Albus for the death of their loved one. Was it justified? If she were to wake up one morning and find Albus Dumbledore on her doorstep, telling her Sirius had died on a mission, he was so sorry, but there would be no body and the funeral would have to be very quiet so as not to attract Death Eaters… she was sure she would blame him for her loss.

But was that fair? Sirius always had to be in the thick of things, always wanted to fight. Even if Albus hadn't had the Order, if Sirius hadn't been invited to join, he would have fought on his own, she was sure of it. He needed danger, adventure, excitement, and who was Olivia to blame Sirius's childish needs on Albus Dumbledore?

She would like to think she would be reasonable enough to know the truth, to know that it was Sirius's choices, not Albus's demands, that had caused such an end, should such an end ever come, but the last thing Olivia ever wanted to face was a day where she would have to deal with putting Sirius in a box and burying him, or worse, burying an empty box. She prayed she would never see that day, knowing full well that it could happen any day.


	27. Setting the Scene

**September, 1972**

The following morning, Olivia came downstairs to drag all of the second year boys out of bed. Sirius was used to waking up to her, as were Remus, James, and Peter, but the other six boys in the dormitory were not and the groaned at the sound of her perky voice, throwing pillows until Remus threatened to hex the person who tossed the next feathery weapon. Sirius gave her a smile and a big wink as she made her way over to Remus's bed and she smiled and winked back.

"Come on, love," she muttered, kissing Remus on the cheek. "We have class schedules to pick up."

James snorted.

"You're just in it for the sausage. Don't lie."

She protested, but her grin belied her. Olivia was hungry and no one was surprised. She whined and moaned and her stomach actually growled, despite the ridiculous amount of food she ate the night before. Finally, the boys were ready and they all went down to breakfast together, Olivia skipping happily all the way, pulling a bemused Remus along behind her by his hand.

"Schedules!" cried Olivia excitedly as she saw Professor McGonagall moving up and down the Gryffindor table handing out class schedules. Remus followed her to get hers and Professor McGonagall gave her an interesting look.

"Miss Cromwell. How was your summer?"

"Excellent, Professor McGonagall!" said Olivia. "How was yours?"

"Fine, thank you," said Professor McGonagall. "I expect you'll be trying for the Gryffindor team, Miss Cromwell?"

"Naturally," said Olivia. "James and I will be trying together, but I'll be trying for Beater and he'll be trying for Chaser."

"Best of luck to you both," she said, handing out their schedules.

"What is it?" said Sirius, not looking at his timetable and sitting down for his toast instead.

"Oh, lovely, Transfiguration first thing," said Olivia with a smile. "And then Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"I'm going to miss Professor Finderbauker," said James with a sigh.

Professor Finderbauker, their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in their first year, withdrew from the position at the last minute to go back home and take care of his ailing mother. Their new professor, Professor Catrin Mackenzie, was a young witch who had been in Hogwarts only a few years ago herself, but spent her years out in Auror training. She passed the program, only to find that she'd rather be a teacher than work in the field.

"Then History of Magic, and Potions with the Slytherins after lunch," said Remus, with a quick glance in Olivia's direction. She was still having nightmares, but they weren't sure if being in the room with the Slytherins would still trigger discomfort and fear for her, or if a summer away had fixed all that. Likely, it hadn't done a thing. On the surface, however, she seemed calmed and unfazed by the news that they were having Potions with the Slytherins that afternoon.

The day went well. Transfiguration involved changing animals into objects, which was certain a step up from the year before. Beetles into buttons weren't particularly difficult, and all but Peter got it on the first try, but the rest of the class seemed to struggle. Professor McGonagall gave Gryffindor forty points and praised them for their excellent wandwork, before warning them not to let it land them in detention too many times that year if they wanted to win the cup.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a different experience. Professor Mackenzie was a pretty young witch, and Sirius already had a crush on her. She looked something like Olivia; he had to admit to himself, with shortish dark hair, big green eyes, and a wry smile, she could be Olivia's older sister. But Olivia was still a girl, and Professor Mackenzie was a woman.

Professor Mackenzie took roll and paused when she reached Olivia's name, frowning at the scroll for a moment, then up at Olivia. When they two locked eyes, Professor Mackenzie blushed and turned back to the parchment in her hands and continued with roll as though nothing had happened, but Sirius had noticed it, and Olivia's puzzled expression meant she had noticed it too.

It was just an introduction class, and when break came, the Marauders headed off to get their things for History of Magic. Sirius said, "So, Livia, do you happen to know our dear new Professor Mackenzie?"

Olivia shook her head.

"She sure seemed to know you," said James. "I wonder if she knows your dad or something."

Olivia snorted and said, "Half the world knows my father. They don't give me looks like that."

"Maybe she knew your mum?" said Remus softly.

They stood there in silence and Olivia froze. She blinked. Then, she shook her head. "I doubt it. Professor Mackenzie is twenty years old. My mother died before Professor Mackenzie was probably even at Hogwarts. Even if she had met her, she wouldn't have really known her."

"Maybe she's another long lost cousin?" said Peter.

Peter was referring, of course, to Eva Morecomb, who was a Slytherin in their year and could have been Olivia's twin if it hadn't been for her blue eyes contrasting with Olivia's green ones. They hadn't even met since the deaths of the mothers until Hogwarts, and Olivia hadn't remembered that Eva existed.

"No, Peter," she said with a smile. "My father was an only child, as is Eva, and my mother only had the one sibling. I have no other lost cousins wandering around out there."

"It's odd, though," said Sirius. "You look as though you could be related, and she certainly knew who you were."

"Sirius, everyone knows who I am," said Olivia with a sigh, pausing to open the door to the classroom with an arched eyebrow. "I'm the daughter of bloody Peter Cromwell."

"Language, dear," said Sirius with a tut. The other boys laughed and she just shot him an icy glare before sliding into her usual spot in the back of the room.

Ten minutes into class, all five Marauders were fast asleep. Even Remus, who was usually their note-taker, couldn't resist the monotone drones' lullaby-esque powers. For being the only teacher who was a ghost, Professor Binns was something far less than interesting.

"C'mon," Sirius heard above him as Olivia shook him awake at the end of class. "It's lunch time. I'm hungry. Hurry up."

"Ugh, Olivia," he moaned, wrenched his head from his arms and grabbing his bag to appease the perky little brunette. "You're always bloody hungry."

"And you're always bloody tired," she said with a smirk.

"Language, darling," he snapped back, but he followed her and Remus out of the classroom and down to lunch. Peter and James hadn't waited for him.

"Lunch had better be amazing today," groaned Sirius as they trotted down the marble staircase to the entrance hall. "I'm starving."

"What's that, Sirius? I thought I was the one who was always hungry," chirped the ever-chipper Olivia, pulling both him and Remus down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her and into the Great Hall for lunch. Sandwiches. Perfect.

"You know, Livia," said James as the three of them sat down with him and Peter, and through a mouthful of ham sandwich, "Drizza makes a mean meal, but you can't beat the Hogwarts lunchtime sandwiches."

"No, James, I completely agree," said Olivia, hungrily grabbing three ham sandwiches and an egg salad sandwich and then proceeding to stuff her face with them. "There's nothing like a good Hogwarts sandwich."

Sirius saw Remus roll his eyes. The boy never understood their love of food. Sirius had to admit, though, when it came to loving food, Olivia had them all beat by miles. She was just starting on her seventh sandwich when Jiki and Kiki Sitzer came to join them at the Gryffindor table. Sirius gave Jiki a kiss on the cheek, mostly for Olivia's benefit, who insisted he wasn't nearly affectionate enough with his girlfriend, and in turn his girlfriend turned bright red faster than Olivia finished her eighth sandwich.

"Hey, guys," said Kiki, ignoring her sister's awkward blush. "So, Potions today is going to be fun. We're doing partners all year, no starting out on our own."

"I reckon you two are partners, then?" said Olivia with a grin.

"Yeah," said Jiki. "I'm not sure if it was the greatest of ideas, though. I mean, we get along, and together we make a brilliant Potions student, but that's if we manage to actually get any work done."

"I suppose you'll want to be partners with Remus this year, Livia?" said Sirius, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. Olivia was one of the top Potions students in their year. If he didn't have her as a partner, he'd fail for sure. He was grateful when she shook her head.

"Sorry, Remus, but Sirius needs me," she said with a little near-pout. He didn't know what else to call that look. "If I abandon him, he'll have to partner with either James or Peter, and if he partners with Peter, they'll both fail, and if he partners with James, they'll never get anything done and half the dungeon will be in shambles."

Surprisingly, Remus gave a gracious nod.

"I agree. It's best for everyone's safety if we keep things the way they were."

Sirius tried not to take this personally, but he did. Potions was the only subject (other than History of Magic, of course) that he wasn't naturally good at.

"Well," said Jiki, "we're off to get our things, but it was nice seeing you! Catch you around!"

Olivia waved goodbye and then turned to Sirius.

"So what class is Jiki off to now?"

He shrugged.

"Wait," she said, "you don't know your girlfriend's schedule?"

"Okay, Livia," said James, "normally, I don't get in the middle of your rants about what a horrible boyfriend Sirius is because I'm sure I understand women about as much as he does, but that's just absurd. We just got them this morning and this is the first he's talked to her all day. How the hell was he supposed to know what she was taking when?"

To Sirius's surprise, she didn't argue, defend herself, or even say a word. She just picked up a tenth sandwich, picked a couple of pickles out of it, and began stuffing her face with it, glaring daggers at James for proving a perfectly good point. Sirius just shook his head in amazement. Girls were just a mystery.

"We should probably go and get our things," said Remus, grabbing both his bag and Olivia's as he stood up from the table, leading the way as the Marauders headed back to Gryffindor Tower for their Potions things. On the way back down to Potions, there was no silence amongst the friends. There was joking, talk of pranks they thought they ought to try, and planning for upcoming events that would be party-worthy. Sirius knew why no one let silence fall. They didn't want Olivia to walk into Potions already tense and nervous about facing the Slytherins.

The arrived just after Lily Evans, who was setting up the cauldron she would share with Severus Snape, archenemy of the Marauders, as soon as he arrived. Professor Slughorn, the large, indulgent Potions Master, grinned eagerly at them as they came in.

"Miss Cromwell! Mr. Potter! Mr. Black! Mr. Lupin! And… Mr. Preston! Delightful to see you!"

Sirius held in his snigger at Peter's name being messed up once again. That man was so eager to collect the students who would be going places that he almost neglected those who wouldn't, and Peter had obviously landed in that second category. The only times Slughorn had ever gotten Peter's name right was the first night at Hogwarts when he called out his name for Sorting and the first day of Potions their first year when he called roll.

"Wonderful to see you, too, sir!" said Olivia, completely ignoring Slughorn's slip-up and sliding into the seat beside Sirius. "How were your holidays, Professor?"

"Oh, excellent, as always!" he said with a smile. "I watched some excellent Quidditch matches and dinned several times with the Minister."

"Hey, Lily," said Olivia, smiling at the red-haired girl who was fishing for her book in her bag.

"Hey, Livia," said Lily, finally pulling the book out and setting it on her table. "Sleep well?"

"Actually, not bad," said Olivia, who was turned so that she was practically sitting on Sirius's lap. He froze and glanced over at Remus. He hadn't seen. Thank Merlin.

"That's good to hear," said Lily. "I see you and Sirius are partners again."

"Yeah, are you and Sni- Snape partners again?"

"Yeah, Sev just had to grab his bag, he should be here soon."

Sirius hated when Olivia actually called that piece of filth by his name, but he knew why she did it. She appreciated her friendship with Evans, for who knows what reason and Evans didn't stand for people calling the slimeball Snivellus.

"So," said Mary with a smile, "how are you, Remus?"

Remus turned bright red and muttered, "Fine," with a quick glance at Olivia, who smiled at him. "Did you have a good summer, Lily?"

"Yeah, I did," she said with a smile. "Thanks for the book, Remus; I'd wanted that for ages."

"I know; I heard you telling Lily about it."

"Well, it's perfect, thanks so much."

"Not a problem."

James was wincing over at his table, where he was sitting beside Mary MacDonald, his Potions partner. Sirius supposed he was probably still irked at Olivia for not sending his letter for Lily on Mary's birthday.

The other Slytherin and Gryffindor second years shuffled in and took their seats at the tables, ready for their first day of classes to be over. Everyone looked incredibly tired, and Sirius felt fairly exhausted as well. They had spent a lot of the summer staying up incredibly late, but there was something especially tiring about classes.

Professor Slughorn's voice droned on about whatever potion they were making that day. Sirius wasn't really listening. He was flipping through his textbook, looking for interesting pictures. Sometimes, they had some funny ones in these things. It didn't really matter if he listened anyway; Olivia would tell him what to do whether he listened or not as if he hadn't listened at all, so he might as well only have to listen once.

Finally, they started in on the potion, and Olivia bossed Sirius around like she'd been doing it all summer (so what if she had?) and he was right. He hadn't had to listen at all. As he was chopping daisy roots absently, however, something did catch his ear.

"Have a nice summer, pet?" said the voice of Lestrange, one of the creepier Slytherin boys.

Olivia jumped at the last word and flushed, biting her lip and nodding, not looking up at the boy who had said it. Sirius looked up at him, however, and caught him smirking. Sirius shot a glare at him, but the boy just deepened his smirk.

Potions was relatively quiet, as nothing exploded (a great feat for their second year class), and after that one quip, the Slytherins left Olivia alone. Sirius figured everyone was on their best behavior because everyone wanted an invite to Professor Slughorn's elite Slug Club, in which he collected the best and the brightest of students and threw parties and held dinners for them, networking them with former students. Those who were in the club wanted to be asked to stay, and those who weren't wanted to be asked to join, except the Marauders (minus Olivia). Except for Olivia, they hated the pomp of the regular parties and just went with Olivia and her friends as dates for the big event: the Christmas party.

When class was finally over, Professor Slughorn came over to have a few short words with Olivia and Evans about his first annual dinner party, telling them to expect his owl soon. As the Marauders left the dungeon they saw a group of Slytherins lingering in the hall, and every head turned as the dungeon door closed behind the Marauders. Olivia froze next to Sirius, and he saw her hand tighten in Remus's.

Avery, Lestrange, Macnair, Mulciber, Snape, and Eva Morecomb were standing there, looking at the Marauders. Six on five. Sirius wondered if this might meet Olivia's definitions of fair.

And yet suddenly, Sirius had a flashback to Olivia's duel with Snape the previous year and the sounds of her screams and she was writhing in pain on a hospital bed and he instinctively knew he would do anything to keep her from fighting. If she didn't fight, it was six on four, and that definitely didn't keep to her standards. Sirius resigned himself to avoiding a fight at all cost.

"Good summer, cousin?" said Eva with a smirk.

The girls were near-twins, but Sirius had never noticed before how alike they sounded, as well. It was like Olivia's voice, but dripping with evil in an almost seductive way. Olivia could sound evil, too, but usually in an angry way. Sirius wasn't sure which scared him more, which was more dangerous.

"Fine," said Olivia curtly to her cousin. She took Remus and pulled him off toward the staircase and Sirius followed, the other Marauders behind him, but he didn't miss the chance, while Olivia wasn't looking, to shoot the most vicious glare he could muster at the Slytherin gang. They would not hurt her again, not if he had anything to say about it.


	28. Monthly Strikes

**September, 1972**

Olivia gave Remus a quick peck on the cheek when they arrived back at Gryffindor Tower, a short while to get ready for dinner and perhaps get some homework done.

"I'm going to put my things away," she whispered before giving him another quick peck on the other cheek and hurrying up the stairs to her dormitory.

Mary, Margery, and Lily were already in the dormitory, talking excitedly about their first day back and tossing around copies of Margery's new subscription, _Witch Weekly_. Olivia wasn't really into that sort of thing, but she sat down with them to briefly discuss their first day back, knowing she didn't spend nearly enough time with the girls.

"Hey, ladies," she said as casually and naturally as possible. "What are you looking at?"

"We're reading an article about relationships and trying to figure out why you're dating Remus Lupin," said Margery bluntly, earning her a slap on the back of the head from Lily.

"And has the article given you any answers?"

"No," admitted Margery bitterly.

"Hmm," said Olivia with mock sadness. "That's too bad."

With that, she turned to go back down to the common room, hearing Margery as she shut the door shouting, "We're not done talking about this!"

A large grin plastered on her face, Olivia marched down to the common room happily, sitting on Remus's lap and curling up there, nuzzling her face into his neck.

"Professor McGonagall would be the one to give us homework the first day back, eh?" said James miserably.

"Yes, well, maybe she wouldn't have if Peter hadn't exploded his desk attempting the assignment," muttered Sirius.

"Oh, what do you two care, you're not actually going to do the assignment," huffed Olivia. "Remus and I are going to be the ones putting quill to parchment."

"And we love you for that," said Sirius, "truly, but it doesn't mean we can't complain anyway. After all, it means we don't get to have as much fun with you two!"

"Don't be silly," said Olivia, "it means Remus and I get more alone time."

Sirius's jaw dropped and he made and involuntary gagging sound, Peter squeaked in horror, and James started coughing as though he was choking on something rather large. Olivia rolled her eyes and kicked the nearest boy, who happened to be James.

"Grow up, babies," said Olivia. "Maybe you ought to learn from Remus and spend a bit more time with Jiki, Sirius. The girl's going to leave you if you keep on being an idiot!"

James frowned.

"She's not going to leave him; she pretty much thinks he's a god."

"Actually," said Sirius with a wink, "I am."

They blinked at him.

"Wait I didn't tell you guys about this?" said Sirius with a grin. "I thought I would have told you all when Livia's dad told us about her being a siren. I'm descended from a fertility deity."

"And that would explain the fan club," said Olivia with a smirk. "Now Margery's bizarre obsession makes a lot of sense."

"You actually believe him?" said James, bewildered.

"Of course I do, he's telling the truth," Olivia stated as though it were obvious.

"How can you tell?" said Remus, giving Olivia a confused look.

Olivia felt really confused. How could they not?

"I – I can't smell it."

They all gave her a curious look. Perhaps she should have said it out loud. Perhaps it wasn't normal to smell things like that. But she could. Sirius was eyeing her with curiosity.

"C-can you smell my thoughts?"

"Don't be silly," huffed Olivia. "One can't smell something as complex as thoughts."

"Because smelling things that aren't scents is perfectly normal in general," said James sarcastically.

"Whatever," Olivia muttered, getting to her feet huffily and storming out of the portrait hole, not entirely sure where she was going. She had made it down to the entrance hall when she heard footsteps coming toward her and she panicked, bolting out the front doors, down the stone steps and toward Hagrid's hut. She was stopped when a pair arms came out of nowhere and someone tackled her. Almost like a reflex, Olivia began to cry and struggle.

"Livia, what the hell?"

She looked up into the face of the boy who was holding her down. It was Sirius. Immediately, she stopped struggling and sighed heavily.

"Oh Sirius, you scared me."

"Yeah, I figured that much out," he muttered. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes," she muttered, but he raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Because you don't sound or look all right."

"Oh, thanks, Sirius," she said sarcastically.

"I mean, what just happened in there? You just ran out of the room and James didn't even _do_ anything this time."

Olivia sighed and grasped Sirius's shirt burying her face in his chest.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," she muttered. "I'm just really out of sorts right now, okay? Bear with me."

Olivia didn't really want to explain to Sirius that she was being moody, irritable and distant because she had just started, for the first time, that thing which girls called a "period." It was an incredibly scary thing, bleeding randomly. Lily had explained to her what was going on, because she hadn't wanted to ask her father about it, and Lily had dragged her to the infirmary during the break after lunch to get her "feminine products." It was slightly embarrassing, to say the least.

"Please come back inside, please?" said Sirius with those pleading gray eyes. "And next time you're feeling out of sorts can you just let us know?"

"Yeah, I'll do my best," said Olivia with a sigh as Sirius stood, offered his hand and helped her to her feet.

"C'mon, it's cold out here," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Let's get you back inside."

Feeling a strange reluctance, Olivia followed Sirius inside, his arm guiding her along as they walked, his fingers gripping her shoulder as though he thought she might bolt.

Once they had gotten her upstairs and happily asleep in her own bed – she refused to stay in the boys' dormitory while she was on this thing called "period" – everything was forgiven and promptly forgotten. They had better things to worry about, like what their first big prank of the year would be.

/-/

Remus woke up rather earlier than was usual for him, even during school. He rolled over, expecting to have Olivia there, wanting to wrap his arms around her and hold her, but she wasn't. She hadn't been staying with him for the past couple of nights, and he wasn't sure why. She had said it was because she wanted more time with her female friends, which he would have believed, if he wasn't a wolf one night a month, and thereby gifted with heightened senses. There were many indicators that she was lying to him, although she was much better at it than anyone else he had come across, but there was something else strange about her scent lately. There was a strong, metallic undertone to it. She had never had this scent before and it was intriguing, almost in a good way, except that it was coming along at the same time she was lying to him. He wasn't sure what to make of this new scent.

He noticed Lily slipping her some sort of Muggle pill at the breakfast table and whispering something in her ear and Olivia gave her a grateful smile and took one of the pills surreptitiously with her pumpkin juice.

Remus wondered to himself all of breakfast whether he should ask her about it, or let her have her little secret. He supposed that unless something seemed to be very, very wrong about her it didn't hurt anything for her to have a few secrets and Lily seemed to be taking care of her, whatever it was.

They walked to class hand in hand these days, and Remus loved the feel of her hand in his, loved the jealous attention they were receiving from all of the boys who they passed, and loved knowing that she was his.

The following morning at breakfast, when Olivia was in the middle of her fifteen piece of toast, an owl fluttered down and dropped a letter next to her plate. Remus recognized the handwriting at once. It was an invitation from Professor Slughorn to the first dinner part of the year for his precious Slug Club.

"This Friday evening," said Olivia happily. "That will be lovely."

"Won't you be bored without us?" said James playfully.

"Never," said Olivia with a smirk. "I'll have Lily and the Sitzers. Speaking of which, you should invite Jiki to have dinner with us more often, Sirius. You don't spend enough time with that girl."

Remus found Olivia's chiding Sirius for not being a proper boyfriend not only entertaining, but also instructive. It hadn't taken long for Remus to start noting down the things she told Sirius he ought to do, knowing that these were the types of things that he in turn ought to be doing with her. He was always pleased when Olivia used Remus as a benchmark, a standard by which Sirius's abysmal boyfriend behavior was measured.

Sirius merely grumbled as Olivia bounced away to discuss with her three female friends what they would be wearing to the dinner party. Sirius moaned and put his head in his hands.

"I think she's got her good mood back," he growled.

"What do you mean?" said Peter. "Even when Livia's in a bad mood, she's in a good mood."

"On the surface, yeah," said Sirius, "but sometimes, there's stuff really bugging her and she's in an actual bad mood, and she has been pretty much all week."

Remus wondered if it had anything to do with the strange metallic smell. He tried to push it from his mind, knowing Olivia wouldn't appreciate them prying into the things she wanted to keep private, but knowing it didn't quench his curiosity.

Not sure what else to do to figure out the puzzle, Remus decided to let his friends in on the secret.

"There's something else too," he said. "She has a different scent."

"You're smelling feelings too, Moony?" said James dryly over his toast.

"No," snapped Remus. "My… my condition gives me heightened senses, and there's something different in her scent lately, something almost metallic. And Lily gave her some sort of Muggle pill the other day, and she took it."

The male Marauders looked around each other with curious, calculating looks, each clearly wondering what was up with Olivia.

"Well, there's only one thing for it," said James. "We'll have to snoop."

"Does that break the code?" said Peter nervously.

The Marauders' Code was a creation Olivia took very seriously, with self-imposed rules of their existence.

"I don't think so," said Sirius, "but she'll kill us if she finds out, either way."

"I don't think this is a good idea, guys," squeaked Peter. It was no secret that he was a bit terrified of Olivia.

"Of course it's not a good idea, but we're doing it anyway," said James. "C'mon, I'll be right back. I have to ask Mary something…"

They watched him go nervously, talking eagerly to the sweet friend of Olivia's.

"You don't think he's making some sort of deal to sign his soul away, do you?" muttered Peter nervously.

"Um, Peter, Mary's not evil," chortled Sirius. "She's a very nice girl."

"No, Mary's great," agreed Peter. "It's Olivia I'm scared about. She might suck out his soul for whatever deal he's making right now."

"Olivia's really talented," said Remus thoughtfully, "but I don't think even she has the power to suck out souls. She's not a dementor."

"No, that she's not," agreed Sirius with a grin, "but sometimes she has that effect of sucking all the happy out of me."

Remus smacked Sirius on the back of the head, not that it made him feel at all sorry for saying it. They all knew it wasn't true at all. Olivia made Sirius immensely happy just by being around and everyone but Olivia seemed to know it. Remus actually was worried about it, knowing that Sirius made Olivia incredibly happy as well. However, as he often had to remind himself, Sirius was with Jiki Sitzer, and Olivia was all his. Sirius had no claim. It was a small comfort, but it was a comfort, nonetheless.

At this point, James was back with a stupid grin plastered across his face.

"Mary's agreed to cooperate. She's going to switch my trunk with Livia's right now so we can go through her things surreptitiously, and then I'll let her know when we're done so she can switch them back. Livia will never have to know."

"James, I'm not so sure about this plan," said Remus, worried.

"That could go very wrong," said Peter with a nod.

"I'm not sure I can handle the wrath of Livia, mate," said Sirius with an even more vigorous nod.

"C'mon, guys, it's foolproof!" said James, following Mary out of the Great Hall with that stupid grin.

Sirius winced.

"I just don't think it's James-proof."

With fear in their hearts and reluctance in their steps, Sirius, Remus, and Peter followed their foolish friend up to their dormitory to help him sift through their other best friend's things. This was doomed.

/-/

Olivia made her way up to the boys' dormitory to drag them off to class, since she hadn't seen them since breakfast. Mary had tried to distract her in the common room. That was the first sign something was wrong. When she opened the door to the boys' dormitory, she found out what. The four boys were crowded around her open trunk, poking through her things

"I don't see any reasons why she's been moody and metallic-y."

Metallic? Remus must be able to smell her period, but apparently, he didn't know what it was. She could feel the crimson growing in her cheeks and began to wonder how they found her trunk. Mary. It must have been Mary.

"Why does any person need so many dresses?"

"And lacy underwear," said Sirius with a low whistle. "Remus, you are one lucky man."

Olivia cringed, but was happy when she saw James smack Sirius and heard him say, "Shut up, man, that's our little sister you're perving on."

"I'm not perving for my sake; I'm commiserating with Remus's perving."

"But I wasn't perving. How can you commiserate with something I'm not doing?"

"He's not commiserating," said Olivia, walking into the room with a scowl on her face. "He's covering his ass. Classic Black move."

Sirius looked up at her with big, round, guilty eyes that would have looked more at home on a cocker spaniel that had just peed on the rug. Olivia was unmoved. In fact, Olivia was furious, and the boys could obviously tell, as they shifted uncomfortably.

"What do you all think you're playing at, going through my personal things without permission?" Olivia shrieked at them, unleashing her fury. "And don't Mary is getting off easy, I'm going to kill her too! I can't believe you would invade my privacy like this. Well, actually, I would have expected something like this from James or Sirius, but Remus? Peter? What were you thinking?"

"Um, we were thinking of how to mitigate James's plan," muttered Remus guiltily. He shouldn't have gotten caught up in looking through her things, but she could tell by his scent that he clearly had.

"Why, may I ask, was James so incredibly eager to go through my things?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Because you've been acting like a moody psychopath," muttered Sirius, obviously thinking she couldn't hear him, but she could, and Olivia, not thinking clearly at all, lunged at the boy, but Remus caught her before she got to him.

"Livia, darling, calm down, he didn't mean it."

"Yes, he did," growled Olivia. "He meant every word and I'm going to gouge his eyes out myself."

"Livia, do you even hear yourself?" said Sirius sadly, swallowing slightly hard, probably at the thought of having his eyes gouged out. "Do you actually want to attack me? I mean, it was a stupid thing to say, but you just proved me right."

Olivia froze, staring at Sirius, no longer fighting back against Remus's hold on her. Damn it. She did. She had just done one of the moodiest, most psychopathic things she could have done in the wake of that comment, something she would never have done under normal circumstances. Crap.

"And you smelled differently, too," muttered Remus in her ear. "Something metallic."

Olivia swallowed hard. Remus had sensed this thing called a period, but he didn't realize what he was sensing. How far had they gotten through her things? Had they found enough to figure it out?

"It's nothing, Remus," she whispered back, eyeing James, who was still eyeing her trunk. Apparently, he now had an insatiable curiosity for going through her things. She would have to berate Mary thoroughly for this later.

"It's really nothing, guys," she said awkwardly. "It's girl stuff. Trust me, you don't want to know."

Suddenly, Peter had a look of realization on his face.

"Merlin, now you and Remus both have a time of the month? How am I ever going to keep track!"

The eyes of the other boys all widened as they realized what Peter meant. James backed away from the trunk as though it had spattergroit, Sirius looked as though he was going to vomit, and Remus sighed with relief, although he looked rather embarrassed.

"So this is all just about you being a female?" cried Peter in outrage. "If I had figured it out sooner I never would have let you drag me into this crazy plan!"

Sirius frowned.

"You really wouldn't have joined us, even for the spirit of brotherhood?"

"Are you crazy?" squeaked Peter. "I like you guys and all, but I value my life far too much to anger Livia without just cause. Surely you understand?"

The boys all nodded in agreement with Peter, eyeing Olivia warily. She was momentarily shocked. It was flattering, of course, but was she really that scary? Or was it the bloody mood swings (no pun intended)?

"You guys, I'm sorry, but I'll try to give you fair warning when my moodiness is coming, and if I'm being excessively awful, you have every right to say so in the most blunt way possible," she said, looking at the ground, trying to decide how to rectify the situation. "And if I ever catch you going through my things without permission again, I will hex you until you're all completely unrecognizable. Understood?"

They all murmured their terrified assent and I nodded sharply, ordering Sirius to put all of my things back in my trunk and carry it to the base of the girl's section of stairs, where Mary would have to drag it back into our dormitory. I wasn't lifting a finger for their misbehavior, and I made it perfectly clear.

**A/N: This took longer than I would have liked… Ha, bet you thought it was Remus's, didn't ya? I know, it's a bit of a strange topic, but I remember being her age, and it's a huge deal, even when your friends are guys, and I imagine at a boarding school, it would be an even bigger deal. I couldn't resist.**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_**stellinator**_**, my new favorite reader who is so eager for chapters and updates and actually tells me so. REVIEW and you could have a chapter or five dedicated to you, too! :D**

**-J**


	29. More Pride

**September, 1972**

Sirius did not appreciate any sort of vicious reminders that Olivia was female. All such reminders included, but were not limited to, her putting on makeup, her flirting with Remus in front of him, and knowledge that she had both incredibly hot lacy bras and a monthly. It all was incredibly disturbing. He knew she was a girl; he was simply convinced it was better for all of their sanity if they didn't discuss the fact. Otherwise, one minute, you're discussing that you're best mate's a girl, and the next you're getting to hear all about her girl issues, and that's enough to drive a bloke mad.

And so for the first few weeks of class, Sirius was rather successfully able to steer the conversation at all times away from the fact that Olivia was a girl, which would occasionally cause her to give him an annoyed glare, but she dropped it after that. Perhaps she sensed his necessity for avoidance of the topic. He should have realized, however, that there would come a time in which he would have to confront her being female head-on, without attempting to run away or balk in fear. That moment came far too soon.

The time had come for Olivia and James to try out for Quidditch. Sirius had already done a quick interview with Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, and they had decided he would be the new Quidditch commentator. As a way of practicing, Sirius was informed them that Peter and Remus would be forced to rate the commentary he gave of tryouts, with utmost honesty.

The tryouts were going well. Matthew Bakester, the Gryffindor Captain and Seeker, was filling a lot of spots. He had himself and two Chasers, and he needed every other position filled in one tryout. Sophie Lehman, returning Chaser and a gorgeous sixth year, zoomed around the pitch like she owned it, trying out the people trying out for Keeper. To Sirius's great surprise, Mary MacDonald, Olivia's friend, was trying, and she was more than trying, she was knocking away every Quaffle they threw her way. The beautiful Sophie Lehman was getting frustrated.

Similarly, James was the only person who was able to get past Mary, including the returning Chasers who had put her through her paces; Bakester had decided fairly quickly that the other people trying for Keeper could go home, that Mary was the best he was going to get. Olivia was beating Bludgers around as though it was going out of style, but after her, the next most skilled was a fourth year named Isla Brown. Sirius had to admit, the girl was no only incredibly pretty, but she had incredible game. He made the mistake, after Bakester had closed tryouts, declared the pair his Beaters and James his new Chaser, of saying rather loudly to Isla that he was impressed at how a pretty girl such as her could swing that bat with such force.

"Oh, so I'm an ugly cow, Sirius?" said Olivia furiously.

"Wha – no, Livia, you're incredibly good looking," said Sirius, confused at what she was getting at, why she was so angry.

"So I'm just nowhere near as good at swinging around a bat as her?" growled Olivia, clearly viciously upset about something, but Sirius had no idea what.

"Actually," said Peter, "if my notes are correct, he said you could play for England, you were so good."

"Well then you must have forgotten I'm a girl, Sirius," said Olivia. "Do you need reminding?"

"What?" Sirius said, still incredibly confused. But he said it too late and too softly, obviously, because at that exact moment, Olivia pulled her t-shirt off and started jumping up and down in nothing but her jeans and a lacy black bra. If he wasn't mistaken, he had seen that one when they had been going through her trunk.

"Is this enough of a reminder?" she shrieked, pointing at her chest. "I'm a girl too, idiot!"

Remus's eyes were wide as saucers as he rushed over to her, picking up her t-shirt and ushering her off to the side, trying to pull the shirt back on her and calm her down enough so that she stopped bouncing angrily around the pitch. Sirius just stared after them. He really needed her to stop reminding him that she was a girl. Nothing good ever came of it.

"What was that all about?" muttered James as he landed by Sirius and Peter, eyes on Olivia, who was finally allowing Remus to pull her shirt back over her torso.

"Merlin only knows," muttered Sirius, shaking his head in horrified disbelief.

"If I was to wager a guess, mate, I'd say she's angry with you," said Peter softly.

"Brilliant deduction, Peter," drawled Sirius. "I'd figured that one out for myself, thanks."

"C'mon," growled Remus. "We're going back up to the common room. Behave, Sirius!"

Sirius threw his hands up in the air.

"I don't even know what I did!" he cried, but he followed them back up to the castle, trying not to look at Olivia. He needed to erase that whole afternoon from his memory. He couldn't do so if Olivia was constantly around him, glaring at him every other second. What had he even done?

/-/

Remus couldn't believe how Olivia had behaved at tryouts, but then, Sirius was an idiot. He hadn't really heard what had been said, but knowing Sirius, it had been stupid, selfish, and hurtful. And it was likely that he didn't have a clue he had even said something of the sort. Sometimes, just trying to keep all of the Marauders happy, healthy and speaking to each other felt like a bit of a full-time job, especially where Sirius and Olivia were concerned. When those two weren't snuggling as though they were sewn together, they were positively nasty to each other.

But Sirius never raised his voice at her. He would yell at James, Remus, Peter, Slytherins they were picking on or random Hufflepuff first years who were looking at him funny in the entrance hall, but never Olivia. She was apparently the one person he never let himself yell at, even when he was really, really mad at her. Remus just tried not to raise his voice unless it was required of him. James, on the other hand, was just loud. Remus wasn't sure there was a sound level above his raised voice, which was reserved for Slytherins and people who had incurred the wrath of the Marauders. So far, those things were the same.

Remus wasn't happy that he now had less time with Olivia, since she was practicing Quidditch what felt like every waking moment. She and James and Mary seemed to think they were a part of some new secret club, and gave each other these knowing glances that they refused to explain to anyone else. He didn't want to admit it, but Remus was starting to feel incredibly jealous of the Quidditch team.

Time was flying by entirely too fast. Before Remus knew it, Olivia's birthday was well on its way and the Marauders were already planning both a party for her birthday, and one in honor of Halloween. They hadn't decided yet if they should do the Halloween party a couple of days early and make it work for both, or if they wanted to be extra diligent and just do two parties. The others were gunning for one. They didn't want to get suckered into cleanup.

"Oh, fine," growled Olivia one day. "Let's just do one, then. Have you finally thought up a theme, James?"

"Of course!" said James happily. "I was thinking ancient civilizations. You'd be an awesome Cleopatra."

Olivia tilted her head, considering him for a moment, before nodding and saying, "So, basically, you're hoping all the older girls show up in togas and belly dancing outfits?"

James grinned guiltily. He didn't need to say a word.

"Well," said Olivia thoughtfully, "I'm fine with it, but I'm so not being Cleopatra."

"Who do you want to be, then?" said Sirius.

Olivia grinned.

"How would you boys like a little slave girl all of your own?"

All four jaws dropped. Remus couldn't help himself. His brain instantly wondered how much fabric that would involve, or rather, how little. His pulse was racing incredibly fast. This just wasn't fair. And he wouldn't even have her to himself: he was sharing her with the other Marauders. He was beginning to wonder if that was what his entire relationship with her would be like, if he was just going to share her with their other three best friends, or if he was even remotely special to her.

Later that night, Olivia approached Remus, who was sitting alone in a corner of the common room, reading a library book, trying to find the information for his Potions essay. She pulled a chair up next to him and let out a sigh.

"Have you been avoiding me, Remus?" she whispered, looking up at him.

"N-no," he said, shaking his head, but not looking away from the Potions book. "You've been avoiding me."

"Remus," she said, pushing the book down on the table and moving her chair closer to him, "look at me."

Swallowing hard, he looked up at her. Her face was inches from his. If he only leaned forward ever so slightly… His heart rate started to speed up again. He swallowed hard again.

"Remus, I'm tired," she whispered, running her fingers along his arm lightly. "Can we go to bed now?"

He didn't look at the clock. He didn't care what time it was, he stood so fast his chair fell over and he didn't bother to pick it up. Remus took Olivia by the hand and practically dragged her up to his dormitory. She hadn't slept in his arms in days. There was no way he was giving her a chance to change her mind.

As soon as they slipped into his bed, Remus wrapped his arms protectively around her. She was his, and nothing in the world was going to take her away from him. He breathed in her intoxicating scent, allowing her to place warm, sweet kisses along his jawline before pressing her lips chastely to his. He didn't want her to pull away. He wanted to use a Permanent Sticking Charm and keep her lips on his for the rest of eternity. If one of them died, the other one would have to go soon, and they'd be buried together.

What an incredibly sappy sentiment, he realized, and mentally chastised himself as she pulled away. But even the mental chastisement hadn't fully restored his senses, and he slid his hand behind her head and pressed their lips together again, more rough this time, sure that her sweet little lips would be bruised from the impact, but she didn't seem to mind. She molded her lips against his for a moment until his hold on her head softened and she slid down a little, nuzzling her face sweetly into his neck.

"Good night, Remus," she whispered.

"Good night, Livia," he whispered back, holding her tightly to him and praying that the morning wouldn't come.

/-/

Olivia woke up in Remus's arms for the first time in far too long, feeling incredibly safe and comfortable. There was one thing that bothered her about the relationship she had with Remus. It was the way he looked at her. He gave her this look of absolute adoration that she knew she didn't live up to. If he couldn't see her as she was, how could they be together? But then, he couldn't see himself as he was, either. He thought he was a monster, a terrible creature that she should be afraid of and detest. For some reason, no matter how many times she told him otherwise, Remus couldn't see that there was more to him than the monster he turned into once a month, and that his condition didn't define him.

"Remus," she whispered in his ear, making sure her lips brushed his skin as they moved, "we have to get up. Breakfast."

"No," moaned Remus, tightening his arms around her and nuzzling his face into her neck.

Olivia sighed. Now she had to get creative.

"I'm going to breakfast, Remus, so you can lay her without me if you like, but I suppose I'll just have to have Sirius help me change, then, because I'm feeling a bit weak today."

Remus's eyes flew open sharply and she suppressed a smirk.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," muttered Olivia. "Oh, Sirius!" she called, but just as Sirius sat up groggily, and looked in their direction, Remus captured her lips in a kiss and she heard Sirius groan, gag, and flop back onto his bed.

"I can't believe you would have done that," moaned Remus against her neck before pressing his lips to it. "He would have, you know."

"I know," said Olivia. "Which is why I wouldn't have done it. I knew you'd react."

Remus groaned, clearly feeling a bit like a fool, but now that he was awake, he seemed to be all right with getting ready for breakfast. Sirius would be cross with her for using him later, but she could handle that. For now, she just wanted breakfast. She changed into the robes she kept in the boys' room quickly, eager to get to the food. At first she didn't even notice the look Remus was giving her.

"What?" she said, noticing that he was looking at her strangely.

"I thought you were going to let me…"

The way his voice trailed off into nothing and the wondrous shade of pink his cheeks and ears turned told her exactly what he had been thinking, and she smirked.

"Maybe another time, dear," she said in a lofty voice, hoping off the bed and leading the way down to breakfast. She hoped there were plenty of eggs, because she was starving.

As she was piling her twelfth helping of eggs and fifth sausage onto her plate, she froze, and the boys all looked at the Slytherin table instinctively.

"No," she muttered, "it's not that it's just… well, we've neglected our research."

"Our…? Oh," muttered Sirius. "We'll get on that during the break then, good call, Livia."

They looked around to make sure no one else had heard, and then turned back to their plates.

"And we haven't gone back to the forest since…" began James, but he caught Olivia's cringe and let his words hang in the air, trailing off into nothing. They weren't going to talk about what happened to her, it was an unwritten agreement that he had almost broken.

"I – I think I left my ink upstairs," mumbled Olivia. She made out of the Great Hall and toward the marble staircase. Was she actually going to go all the way up to Gryffindor Tower? No, she would probably just go up to Transfiguration a little early. After all, she hadn't actually forgotten anything.

"Hello, pet."

Olivia froze. She knew that voice, those words. They haunted every nightmare she had had for months, and they made her insides freeze with dread. She winced, hoping she had just imagined it.

"I see you've got a bit of a fling with the little puppy," said the voice, and she felt the hand of Yaxley, a fifth year Slytherin, trace its way up her arm, following a line up to her neck as he walked around to the front of her. She hadn't imagined it. Yaxley was following her again.

"What's it to you?" she snapped, which only caused his customary smirk to deepen.

"Quite simply, he has no right going after what's mine, my sweet," he drawled, running his fingers slowly through her hair. "Now, I'm going to let you have your little fun, as long as you behave yourself, but I'm not letting my prize be spoiled by that Gryffindor filth. Don't forget who you belong to, pet."

"I don't belong to anyone," she said boldly. "I'm not a possession."

Yaxley hissed angrily, but Professor McGonagall had just opened her door and was moving to prop it open for the second years when she spotted them in the corridor and her eyes narrowed.

"Remember your place, pet," he said softly before nodding to Professor McGonagall, turning on his heel and stalking off toward the marble staircase. Olivia exhaled deeply, blinked deliberately, and held back a shiver, knowing that Professor McGonagall was still watching her as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and stalked into the Transfiguration classroom, muttering a polite, but half-hearted greeting to her head of House.

Olivia settled in to her usual seat in the back and ignored the half-curious, half-knowing glances from Professor McGonagall as she pulled out her book, her quill, her ink and some parchment, and made quite a show of arranging them on her desk. Several minutes later, she was joined by her fellow Marauders and attention was drawn from her, which was welcome. At that moment, any distraction from her would have been welcome, even if it was Albus Dumbledore performing a naked tap dance with the Giant Squid on Professor McGonagall's desk.

Actually, if fully clothed, Olivia would really quite like to see that.

"Are you okay, love?" muttered Remus as he pulled out his own book. "You look a bit pale."

Olivia nodded, avoiding Sirius's eyes, knowing that somehow, like always, he just knew that something was wrong, that she was lying. He always knew when she was faking her smiles. It was far too early in the year for being questioned or having some sort of an intervention.

She wasn't even sure what they were doing in Transfiguration, as the lecture droned on for what seemed like forever before Olivia stared at her desk blankly. By the time she heard the bell and realized that she had just spent the entire period staring blankly at her desk, Sirius and Remus were already pulling her out into the hall for questioning. Perfect.

"What happened?" demanded Sirius, but Olivia just shook her head.

"No," she said firmly. "No, we're not doing this again! I think I've proven that I'm not a child and I don't need your constant protection to be okay! We're not playing this game."

"And tell me, Livia," said Sirius with a snort, "when was this proven? When we're not with you in the halls, you get accosted, attacked, kidnapped. If we leave you alone for five minutes at a party you get yourself mauled by Slytherin hormones. When have you _ever_ proven yourself capable of handling their psycho behaviors yourself?"

"Love, we care about you, and I don't want a repeat of last year," muttered Remus. "I thought we'd lost you so many times…"

Olivia shivered.

"It was nothing," she mumbled. "Really. Professor McGonagall opened the door to class before anything happened."

"But it shook you up a bit," said Sirius, a sad sort of pity in his eyes.

Olivia just shrugged. She could tell that Sirius wanted to hug her, but he hesitated, shifting awkwardly and before he had a chance, Remus wrapped his arms around her and smoothed her hair.

"It's going to be alright, Livia," whispered Remus. "I'm going to be here for you all the time and I'm not letting anything happen to you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she muttered, and Remus froze, giving her a surprised, sad look.

Over Remus's shoulder, she saw Sirius's eyes darken. She met his gaze firmly, even if she felt a little self-conscious. She let go of Remus and walked down the hall toward Defense Against the Dark Arts, leading her two favorite boys to class, standing as tall as she could and not looking at either of them as they followed her, exchanging worried and sad looks behind her back.

Olivia slid into a seat next to James in Defense Against the Dark Arts, not particularly looking forward to another hour of Sirius drooling over Professor Mackenzie, and Remus shooting her worried glances. Still, it wasn't the type of class one could just skip. She wasn't sure if Professor Mackenzie would mind, but she did know that it was something she would need to be especially good at, considering she was beginning to get the feeling that she wouldn't stop being hunted, as long as she was alive.


	30. Shallow

**September/October, 1972**

Sirius's concerns didn't completely leave his mind. They were just pushed to the side for later. Right now, he had Professor Mackenzie in front of him, and he was doing his best to give her his utmost attention. Never before had he wanted to impress a teacher, but never had he had a teacher as beautiful as Professor Mackenzie. Her silky black hair, her porcelain skin, and her glittering green eyes… gorgeous.

Sirius liked Jiki just fine. She was a sweet girl, a good friend, but never before had he had a crush on someone, until they began Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Mackenzie. She was beautiful, intelligent, and to be perfectly honest, incredibly badass. Some days, when she got bored of teaching spells, she would tell them stories from her days of Auror training. These were, perhaps, the best lessons of all, hearing fascinating stories of the testing of daring and strength of will, strength of character, and training under the best Auror to ever live: Alastor Moody.

"He's a bit paranoid," she admitted to them once, "but if you'd lived through what he has, you would be too, and for good reason."

Today, however, was not a story day. Today they were practicing disarming.

"Pair up, everybody, and we'll get going on this practice," said Professor Mackenzie.

Remus refused to partner with Olivia, in case he accidently overshot and hurt her, so Sirius partnered with Olivia, Remus with Peter, and James with Mary. Lily partnered with Margery. Professor Mackenzie stood at the front of the class and said, "We're going to do a little game out of this today. I'll give you ten minutes to practice with your partners and I'll go around fixing your mistakes. Then we'll start the game and I'll explain how it works."

Sirius and Olivia smirked at each other as they faced off, effectively taking turns disarming each other, as they were both so incredibly quick at spellcasting that it was sheer luck on who succeeded each time. Sirius did his best not to flush with pride as Professor Mackenzie complimented them and had them give a quick demonstration for the class. Olivia beat him in the demonstration, of course, but Sirius didn't mind. Professor Mackenzie had complimented him.

"So, now that you've all had a chance to practice, you're going to pair off with someone else and face off once. The winners will line up here in the front of the room, and the rest will return to their seats. Go ahead."

Sirius and Remus faced off, Olivia and Peter, James and Margery, and Lily and Mary. Kurt had to pair off and do a practice on Professor Mackenzie because they had an odd number of students in Gryffindor. Sirius, Lily, James, and Olivia went on to the next round, and Kurt stood next to Olivia, a smile on his face. Sirius frowned as she smiled back, although he didn't know why it bothered him.

Sirius found himself paired with Lily Evans, as they were the only two left standing solo at the end of the partner scramble. Olivia had been grabbed by Ryan Robeson and James had turned to the person standing next to him, who had been Patrick Yow. Kurt had grabbed Neil Dejong as soon as Olivia was grabbed by Ryan. Sirius wasn't sure that it was fair that he had gone up against two of the best in their year right off the bat, but he shouldered the burden and surprisingly took Lily down without much effort. James, Olivia and Kurt were the only others left with wand in hand.

"Very good," said Professor Mackenzie. "If your wand has been taken, retrieve it and sit. Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Miss Cromwell and Mr. Neuendorf, please line up in the front of the room."

She looked the four of them over, considering, then nodded to herself.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Cromwell, you first," she said sharply, and Sirius watched as James and Olivia took several steps forward and faced each other, wands at the ready, smirks on their faces, hunger in their eyes.

"I dedicated this performance to my Lilyflower," said James suavely, blowing a kiss at Evans, who scowled back at him.

"And I dedicate this to Remus," said Olivia with a smirk, blowing a kiss at her boyfriend, who blushed and sank into his seat a little bit, which cause her to laugh.

"All right, you two," said Professor Mackenzie with amusement. "Let's get to it, then.

They took paces and bowed to each other solemnly, as though doing a full duel and the other Gryffindors cheered and whooped. James was just opening his mouth when Olivia cried, "_Expelliarmus!_" and his wand shot out of his hand and into hers.

He retrieved it from her, grumbling that she should smirk as it wasn't attractive, before going back to sit by Remus and Peter. Olivia went to stand by Sirius, winking at him happily. He just shook his head.

"Very well, excellent job, Miss Cromwell. Mr. Black, Mr. Neuendorf, your turn."

Sirius and Kurt didn't have all of the theatrical buildup that Olivia and James had done. Sirius liked Kurt just fine, but Kurt wasn't a Marauder, and the fool had just winked at Olivia, who simply smirked back. Therefore, in this moment, for this round, Kurt was the enemy, and Sirius treated him accordingly. Disarming him truly was quite simple, and Sirius began to think that perhaps he had a flair for the spell.

Then he faced off with Olivia, the final opponent before he was showered with adoration and House points by Professor Mackenzie. They did a little bit of theatrics, which earned catcalls from James, and applause from the other Gryffindors, except Lily Evans, who looked rather perturbed.

"For Remus," said Olivia with a smirk, blowing him another kiss. Sirius gave her a wry smile. He knew exactly what she was up to.

"For James," he said, blowing James a kiss.

"Avenge me, Sirius!" James cried, bringing laughter from their housemates.

"All right, now, you two," said Professor Mackenzie. "Get on with it."

They paced, bowed, and before Sirius realized what happened, before he had a moment to blink, his hand was empty and his wand was landing gracefully in Olivia's outstretched hand. He had lost. He blinked. He had actually lost when it counted. He felt rather ashamed.

"Excellent. Very well done, everyone, and Miss Cromwell, ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Mackenzie enthusiastically. "I'd like to see my four finalists at my desk, please," she called over the shuffling as the bell rang. Sirius, Olivia, James and Kurt made their way up to her desk, Sirius's heart pounding out of his chest as he approached his beautiful professor.

"I'd like to as you if you'd be interested in this little idea I've had," she said. "You see, I want the first years to see just how much better they'll be this time next year, and have the second years see the kind of standard of spellwork they ought to strive for. I want to do this same game with the top four in every House, as a sort of showdown, put on in the Great Hall this Saturday, for all the first and second years. It will be mandatory, and older students can watch if they would like. Now, if any of you aren't willing to do this, I can hold a short playoff between the next best students and find a replacement for you…"

They all assured her that they would be thrilled to participate.

"I wonder who the other students will be," Olivia mused as they hurried off to History of Magic.

Sirius didn't care. This would be his chance to redeem himself in front of his dear professor. For the first time since he started Hogwarts, Sirius Black was swearing to himself to do his homework. He would not lose again.

/-/

The younger years were abuzz with delight over the prospect of the impending tournament for the whole week, and if Remus were being honest with himself, he was rather sick to death of it all. The Gryffindors were the first group to have the class on Disarming, and considering that all four of the winners were incredibly egotistical, the news had spread around the school by the time lunch was over Monday morning. The Ravenclaws had their lesson on Tuesday, and Jiki Sitzer had been the champion of their class, but she spent all of dinner telling Sirius proudly that she and her two best friends, Kelly and Tara, had all been in the top four, and that Hugh Luo, the fourth Ravenclaw, had considered not doing the tournament on Saturday because he was so shy.

Wednesday, the Slytherins had Defense in the morning, and they got to hear them bragging about it to Professor Slughorn in Potions that afternoon.

"You would have been proud of the way Morecomb took down Rosier, Professor," said Avery proudly, eyeing Eva Morecomb with a look of extreme pride."

"Were the near-twins both champions?" said Sirius incredulously. "Wouldn't that be funny, the near-twins and the actual twins, all champions of their respective Houses."

"Sev was champion of Slytherin, actually," said Lily proudly, and Snivellus's expression could only be called a simper, and it didn't suit him at all. Maybe James was right. Maybe the grease-ball really did have a thing for Lily.

However, as soon as he turned to look at Sirius, Remus realized what that meant. Snape was champion of Slytherin. Olivia was champion of Gryffindor. The odds that they would come head-to-head at some point of the competition were quite good, considering there were only sixteen people in the whole competition. The last time those two crossed wands Olivia was in the hospital wing for weeks. There were only supposed to be Disarming, but if he was careful about it…

Remus shuddered, turning back to his Potion with even more worries on his mind.

What was plaguing Remus most was that Saturday was a full moon, and not only was he not going to be able to watch his girlfriend compete in the tournament, he was going to be resting in preparation for turning into a horrendous, monstrous beast. And what's more, Olivia seemed to have forgotten all about the moon cycle in light of the tournament, and he didn't have the heart to remind her and ruin the first signs of true happiness she had shown in a while.

Thursday afternoon, Hufflepuff had their class and Kiki Sitzer, who was having a 'business dinner' with Olivia about the upcoming Marauder's birthday party for Sirius, which would be the next weekend, told them all about the Hufflepuff champions. Apparently, they had four, not three, because of the way their numbers worked, so Catriona Walburn had to beat out both Gudgeon and Stebbins for the final spot. Bertram Aubrey, the only male in their top four, had lost to Kiki in the last round.

When Friday night rolled around, Remus curled up next to Olivia in his bed, and wondered if she was going to get any sleep at all. Her face was alight with excitement in the moonlight.

"Be sure to get a good seat tomorrow," she whispered, "for when I take down Snivellus, okay?"

Remus sighed.

"Dear, do you know what day tomorrow is?"

She frowned, thinking.

"Saturday?"

"Yes, and what else?"

"Um… the week before Sirius's birthday?"

"Yes, and?"

There was a moment of silence, then…

"Oh, no, I'm not most awful and insensitive girlfriend on the planet."

Remus sighed again.

"Darling, I'm not mad at you. You've had a lot on your mind. I just hope you won't be too upset that I can't be there."

Olivia turned to face him, running her fingers through his hair.

"Moony, I've been incredibly insensitive. I should be showering you with affection and such leading up to the cycle, not going on about my stuff." She kissed his forehead. "I'll make up for it when you're back, though. I promise."

"You don't have to do that, Livia," he whispered, nuzzling his nose against her hair.

She wrapped her arms around him sweetly, playing with his hair as she held herself tight against him.

"I know," she whispered back, "but I want to."

/-/

Olivia woke up Saturday morning with a smile on her face. She would walk Remus to the infirmary, where he would rest up for his night of horror, then grab a bit of breakfast, and she would meet James and Sirius in Professor Mackenzie's office an hour before the event for briefing. Peter would get there early with Lily and Mary to get good seats, as all of their best friends would be competing. Then, she would knock down her foes one by one and become the champion of the entire year in Disarming. She was only four rounds away.

"Hey, Livia," whispered Sirius at breakfast, "Kiki's just given me the proof of the fliers for the party."

They had decided, with all of the excitement going on, between Quidditch practices, party planning, and Disarming practice, that they would do a late Halloween/Olivia's birthday/Sirius's birthday party the week after the Disarming, a week before the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match. Olivia took the poster from him and saw, in beautifully flowing writing, the teaser of choice: "HALLOWEEN 2: The Cromwell-Black Birthday Costume Extravaganza, put on by The Marauders! Ancient Civilizations is your theme, so buy or make your costumes now!"

"Excellent, let's go to Professor Mackenzie's office then, if you've eaten?"

"Yeah," said Sirius with a grin. "Let's go."

They walked quickly to the office, looking around when they got inside. They were the last ones there, and slid over next to James and the Sizter twins, who were talking in the corner about the party.

"All right, we're all here, so listen up," said Professor Mackenzie with a smile. "There are four rounds. I'm going to tell you know who's disarming who in what order for the first round. After that, winners need to listen carefully for their name to be called for the next rounds. All right? Great, first pairing is James Potter and Tara Schawecker. Second pairing, Kurt Neuendorf and Jack Avery. Third pairing, Olivia Cromwell and Bertram Aubrey. Fourth pairing, Severus Snape and Freya Maza. Fifth pairing, Rabastan Lestrange and Kelly Briles. Sixth pairing, Kiki Sizter and Hugh Luo. Seventh pairing, Jiki Sitzer and Eva Morecomb. And the eighth pairing, Sirius Black and Catriona Walburn. Everybody clear on that? Good, well, then, let's go down and see if Mr. Flitwick needs any help setting up, shall we?"

James, Sirius and Olivia stuck tight together, looking over their opponents.

"All right," said James, "I'm first, and I've got Tara. Ravenclaw. Olivia's third, and she's got Aubrey… Hufflepuff. He ought to be nice and easy as a warm-up. And Sirius gets to go last, and he's got the wildcard, Walburn. That's probably going to be a really easy warm-up. I wonder how she'll figure out the pairings for the next round?"

"I don't know if you noticed," she said, "but she's splitting us up by house. We're not going to have to face each other unless we all make it to the semi-finals, or two of us make it to the finals."

They exchanged looks of interest, sizing each other up briefly.

"I wonder who…" began Sirius, but he didn't finish his sentence. His eyes fell on the Slytherins, talking rapidly and glancing over at Olivia, and he growled deep in his throat.

"Don't worry about it, Sirius," she said. "Chances are I won't have anything to do with any of them."

Professor Flitwick and Professor Mackenzie put the finishing touches on the stage and a crowd began to form around it. The champions were behind it, standing in a line, separated clearly by house, and Olivia sandwiched between James and Sirius. Professor Mackenzie got up on the stage and said, "Hello, everybody! If you're in the first or second year, please sign in with your head of House. They have a list of you, and as this is mandatory, I'd recommend doing it now so you don't forget later. For those of you older students, thank you for coming out to watch. We will be kicking off this tournament with James Potter of Gryffindor and Tara Schawecker of Ravenclaw."

James and Tara took to the stage, James making an exaggeration of bowing and flourishing before they faced off, but he took her wand quite easily, and then Kurt and Avery were announced, and they took the stage. Kurt winked at Olivia, and Sirius scowled, but they all winced when Kurt's wand was in the Slytherin's hand only seconds later.

"Next up, Olivia Cromwell of Gryffindor and Bertram Aubrey of Hufflepuff."

Olivia climbed onto the stage and the first face she saw was that of Regulus Black, who was, of course, required to attend. She then saw their cheering column of Peter, Lily, Mary, and Marge and the girls waved eagerly at her as she paced, bowed low to Aubrey, flourishing her hands even more grandly than James had done, and blowing Aubrey a taunting kiss. He blinked in surprise and before he could raise his wand, it flew out of his hand and into hers. The Great Hall erupted into cheers as she bowed to them, blowing random kisses into the crowd and purposefully stepping off the stage backwards, where James and Sirius were waiting to catch her. She winked at her cousin, who was watching her warily.

"Good show, Livia," said James enthusiastically. "Always good value."

"Thank you, James, dear," she whispered, "now be quiet. Maza's about to be publically shamed."

Olivia put a finger to her lips and they watched Freya Maza of Hufflepuff face off against Snivellus, who was looking particularly greasy on this fine Saturday, as he barely jerked his head into a bow and had her wand within a second.

"Next, Rabanstan Lestrange of Slytherin and Kelly Briles of Ravenclaw."

"All right, Kelly!" yelled Sirius, earning him a happy smile from his girlfriend, but Olivia knew that's not why he yelled it. He said it because Lestrange had run his fingers discretely across Olivia's chest as he passed her on his way to the stage, and Sirius was livid. She had to admit, it had made her rather uncomfortable.

But the shout of support was of no use. Kelly lost her wand, not without a fight, and Lestrange smirked in the direction of the Marauders as he stalked off the stage.

Kiki took Hugh's wand, which was a blow for Ravenclaw, everyone knew. It was one thing when Slytherins and Gryffindors were devouring their opponents, but it was another thing altogether to be beaten by a Hufflepuff, skilled though Kiki was.

Jiki went against Eva, and Ravenclaw was down to their last hope to get someone into the next round. Jiki had all of her twin's determination, but Eva was nearly as quick as her cousin, and the blue-eyed near-twin bested the last hope of Ravenclaw. They would not have the champion.

Sirius and Catriona's paring was possibly shortest of all. Sirius was incredibly good, very quick reflexes, and it was obvious that Catriona wasn't in the same league at all as her other competitors. The final round ended with vigorous clapping, particularly from the Slytherins in the audience, as Professor Flitwick and Professor Mackenzie bent over a sheet of parchment, probably deciding the pairings for the next round.

"All right, everybody, thank you for competing to those of you who lost, and congratulations to our winners! This next round will be kicked off by James Potter of Gryffindor and Eva Morecomb of Slytherin!"

There was much cheering throughout the room. This would be a proper Gryffindor v. Slytherin showdown, with a Marauder involved. Sirius frowned as James got onto the stage.

"It's eerie," he muttered. "It's almost like he's facing you, like the other day."

Olivia nodded. It was strange for her, as well, seeing her near-twin face off her big brother. It wasn't quick, as their spells met midair several times before Eva took James's wand.

"Jack Avery of Slytherin and Sirius Black of Gryffindor."

More raucous cheers as James, with a frown on his face, gathered his wand from Eva and took off for a spot next to Peter. Sirius faced Avery, every corner of his face lined with pure loathing. Before they took their paces, Avery muttered something that caused Sirius's eyes to narrow, no doubt attempting to get into his head, but it had been a very bad plan. An angry Sirius was even quicker than a lofty one, and Avery never had a prayer. He looked furious as he retrieved his wand from Sirius as the Hall exploded with applause.

"Olivia Cromwell of Gryffindor and Rabastan Lestrange of Slytherin."

Sirius blinked and looked down at Olivia, coming off the stage with a look of fear in his eyes that Olivia did her best to disregard.

"Awfully brave, aren't you, little one," Lestrange whispered, smirking at her.

"You're one to talk, Lestrange," she spat. "I actually won in my House. You didn't."

"Have you taken a good look at the audience, Cromwell?" he muttered as they pretended to bow. "There's someone at the back who's watching you rather intently."

She shouldn't have looked, and she knew it as soon as she looked. But there, at the back of the audience, was Yaxley, leering at her and smirking softly.

"_Expelliarmus!_" she cried, praying her spell got there before his had a chance to leave his wand. She would not lose to her stalker's lackey. Thankfully, his wand flew into her hand and she smirked at Lestrange.

"I believe this is yours," she said loftily, tossing is wand back at him as Professor Mackenzie said, "Severus Snape of Slytherin and Kiki Sitzer of Hufflepuff."

The Hufflepuffs in the audience were cheering madly. Kiki was their own last shot, but Olivia and Sirius exchanged uncomfortable looks as the opponents paced. She didn't stand a chance.

Kiki had no sooner lifted her wand to the ready position than it was in Snivellus's waiting hand, his eyes glittering brightly. Hufflepuff was done.

"Excellent! Well done to all our winners! We are now in the semi-final round! I'd like for Eva Morecomb of Slytherin and Olivia Cromwell of Gryffindor to face off now, best of luck to you both."

The near-twins got onto the stage, paced, and bowed. Eva got her spell off first, but Olivia ducked, shooting her own off, which Eva blocked with a Shield Charm. The two circled, bowing again. It wasn't customary, but it felt right. Olivia's spell shot off first this time, meeting Eva's in midair, far closer to Eva than the Slytherin was surely comfortable with. They circled again. It was impossible to say whose spell went first in that third volley, but Olivia jumped to the side and Eva wasn't quick enough. Her wand flew into the hand of her Gryffindor cousin, and the Great Hall exploded with cheers. Olivia took a deep breath, stepping off the stage and tossing her wand back at her cousin.

"Wow," said Sirius, but that was all he had time for before Professor Mackenzie said, "Sirius Black of Gryffindor and Severus Snape of Slytherin."

The Great Hall was filled with sound now, of all sorts. Cheering and jeering, hissing and gossiping. Olivia stood behind the stage, watching her best friend face off against their greatest enemy. She would be facing off against whoever won, and her gut was clenching at the thought.

It lasted about as long as her own round with her cousin, and she could see the cold determination in both pairs of eyes, knowing the restraint they both were exercising at not using anything worse than Disarming. After four volleys, Sirius's wand soared into Snivellus's, and Sirius groaned, catching it as it was tossed back. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin in the final, and instead of cheering, as the crowd ought to have done, it was holding its breath.

Olivia was reminded forcefully of the ill-fated duel the previous year with the very boy she was facing off against now. His eyes glittered maliciously and she swallowed hard, knowing she must look scared.

"Think of all the House points Slytherin will get when I beat you," he said with a sneer, not bothering to lower his voice, as it echoed across the Great Hall.

"Well, Merlin knows you have no better way to earn them," sneered Olivia. "Don't worry; I'll recover them in Quidditch."

Snape frowned slightly.

"Not even going to pretend like you have a prayer of winning, Cromwell? Where's your Gryffindor bravado?"

Olivia laughed hollowly.

"Oh, we both know how this goes, Snivelly. I recall last year as well as you. Only this time, you've only got one spell at your disposal, so this might last a little longer than that did."

Professor Mackenzie was frowning in front of the stage. Obviously, no one had told her that the finalists of her tournament had gotten into a very famous duel the year before. Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Slughorn and Flitwick, on the other hand, looked incredibly worried, and were all probably internally debating whether to break this up before it got ugly, or to let it run its course.

"You'd be surprised, Cromwell, of what I can do with even the simplest of spells. Mind if I show you?"

"Well, that's why we're here, isn't it?" she said with a smirk. They paced, and bowed, or rather, jerked their heads slightly. He even allowed her time to get her wand ready and then he shot off his spell, which she deflected deftly. He shot off another, which she dodged. Another dodged. Another deflected. Then their spells met in midair frightfully close to Olivia. Then another, deflected. She was very clearly on the defensive, but she didn't care. As long as he didn't get her wand, maybe they'd call it a tie if she held of long enough. She was a little worried about the other damage he might inflict with the spell.

Before she could dodge, it hit her, and her wand flew out of her hand just as she was thrown backward off the stage, clear across the room, hitting the stone wall of the Great Hall with a sickening crunch, hearing the screams of the audience, shouts of Professors, seeing the distant sneer of Severus Snape, and then the world faded to black.


	31. Passing the Days

**January, 1979**

The time passed and things went on as usual, but the Order had become more and more accustomed to seeing people fall in the line of battle, though they had managed to avoid losing any more members as of yet. Olivia was chosen to go on the latest mission with Caradoc Dearborn, and Sirius didn't like it. He tried to talk her out of it, talk her around, but there wasn't much good trying to keep her out of things, even for her own good.

Almost the day after the New Year, Olivia was gone again. It wasn't that Sirius didn't have plenty of things to be doing, it was that while he was doing them he was constantly worrying about Olivia. Sometimes he would be so distracted by thoughts of her that he would drop things or not notice that everyone in the room was looking at him because he didn't answer a question or made some sound he hadn't meant to make. Several times, Remus had caught Sirius thinking aloud, and while much of this was simply him worrying about her well-being, there were a few times Sirius was glad it was Remus who had heard him and not, say, Dumbledore or Mad-Eye.

Caradoc was a good sort of bloke, Sirius had decided, and had promised Sirius personally and privately to protect Olivia at whatever cost, knowing how worried Sirius was about her. Still, Caradoc's mystery mission was dangerous, and they all knew it, and Voldemort was looking for him specifically. People Voldemort wanted weren't the ones Sirius trusted best to hide the person Voldemort wanted most of all.

Although, that statement was fast becoming debatable. The Potters and the Longbottoms had both been approached about joining the Death Eaters, outside of incidents involving Olivia. The war was escalating, and it was clear that Voldemort had more things on his mind that merely whatever this prophecy was that Olivia kept so secret.

"Sirius, can you please just focus?" Lily snapped. "You need to remember this, it's important."

"Right," Sirius sighed. "Right, this is terribly important, Lily."

"Don't be sassy with me," she hissed. "Remember, eggs, milk, and ten kilos of flour, all right?"

"Remind me why I'm doing your grocery shopping again," Sirius muttered, rubbing his temples, sick of looking after Lily.

"Because James is on a mission tonight and I need eggs, milk, and flour and you're a good person," Lily barked, not at all implying any sort of goodwill. She'd been grouchy lately, and Sirius knew it was because she was worried about Olivia.

"Right," Sirius sighed. "Look, Lily, I know you're worried about Olivia. So am I. But this worrying isn't going to do anyone any good. Caradoc swore he'd take care of her, and he's kept himself alive thus far, which is more than a lot of us have managed, so I'm inclined to believe him, because what other choice do I have?"

Lily sighed.

"I wish you'd just marry her, Sirius, and settle down and get her pregnant so she'd have to stay out of trouble."

He grinned.

"Who says those things have to happen in quite that order?" She smacked him hard across the chest. "Ah! All right, all right, propriety. Whatever. What is it with this obsession with marriage? James said the same thing. Come to think of it, so did Dad."

Peter Cromwell had rather insisted that Sirius start calling him Dad because Mr. Cromwell was "ridiculous" at their age, and what with Wormtail, it was strange for Sirius to call him Peter. Olivia had been annoyed with her father for the request, saying he was trying to get Sirius to propose and that he should mind his own business, but Sirius liked having someone who cared about him who he could think of as a father, so he tried not to be bothered by the truly obvious push for Sirius to propose.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about getting a ring, marrying Olivia, knowing she would be his. The thought crossed his mind almost every day. But Olivia seemed so… anxious about marriage. He was worried that if he did pop the question, she would get scared and leave him again.

"Just go get the stuff, Sirius," Lily sighed. "We can have a chat later. The store will close."

So Sirius went off to gather up the things on Lily's grocery list, which he had taken to doing for her whenever James or Olivia wasn't around to do. James didn't like Lily going to the store by herself, worried about what would happen if she was spotted by Death Eaters.

That was another reason a wedding wasn't a good idea, Sirius thought to himself as he gathered up the proper amount of flour. Getting all of the Order Members together would be like handing the Death Eaters a wedding invitation. It would be putting Lily and James and Remus and Peter and Olivia and everybody else Sirius worked with and cared about in incredible danger. More danger than they were already in on a daily basis, which was quite a lot.

But on the way back from the store, Sirius saw a jewelry store and stopped to look at the window. There were dozens of rings, all so incredibly different. He wouldn't know which one he would pick for her, anyway. He would have to ask Lily or Remus or someone with taste. But Sirius knew he wanted to get something for her, even if he couldn't get her a ring. Olivia would go on about how it was silly for him to spend his money on frivolous things at a time like this, but he knew she always loved what he got her, and it gave him a proud feeling to see her wearing the jewelry he bought for her. Even more so the things he picked out himself, which were much fewer and farther between because of his lack of confidence in his jewelry-picking skills.

Sirius hoisted the shopping over his shoulder and headed into the store, glad he'd had plenty of Muggle money on him. He liked to carry a large supply of both currencies, never knowing when he would be venturing into which world.

"May I help you, sir?" said a sweet-looking girl behind the counter. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

"Um," he muttered, "well, I want to get something nice for my girlfriend. She's away for a while and I want to have a present for her when she gets back."

"Oh, that's so sweet!" she cooed. "How long have you been together?"

"Um," Sirius thought back, "I dunno, about three years, I guess."

"Oh, how sweet," she cooed once more. "Do you buy her jewelry much?"

"Yes," Sirius said honestly, "but I'm not very good at it. I usually come with someone to help me."

"Oh, never you mind that, I'll be able to help, I think!" she said cheerfully. "What is her coloring, then?"

"Erm," Sirius muttered, trying not to think of how long it would be until he could look at her sweet face again. "She's got black hair and… and beautiful green eyes. Like the grass on a summer's day."

"That sounds lovely," she said earnestly. "I bet you make a smart couple."

"I suppose we do," Sirius said with a little chuckle.

"What sort of a piece were you thinking?"

"Ah, well," he sighed, "I've been getting her a lot of necklaces lately…"

"How about earrings? Are her ears pierced?"

"Ah, yes," he said, thinking with a small smile about the little pearl studs Lily got her one birthday and how it felt to run his tongue along them as he teased her ear. "Yes, she does."

The shop girl and Sirius looked at the earrings for quite a while until they finally decided on a pretty pair of dangling green stone earrings.

"Thank you very much for your help," Sirius said, making sure to get a good enough distance away from the shop before Disapparating.

"What took you so long?" Lily snapped when she answered the door. "I thought something got you! I was terrified!"

"Relax, Lily," Sirius sighed. "I stopped to get a gift for Olivia."

He pulled out the little box with the earrings and Lily gasped.

"Oh, Sirius, they're beautiful! How on earth did you pick them out?"

"The girl at the shop was very helpful," he said, shrugging and putting the box away.

"I'll be she was," Lily said sardonically, taking the groceries from him, but Sirius grabbed her wrist.

"Don't you dare," he hissed. "Don't you ever dare insinuate that I would ever be anything but faithful to Olivia. Don't you dare."

Lily's eyes widened.

"Is it so hard to believe, Sirius? After all, she's gone often, and you've been more distant since school than I think you would like. I haven't forgotten the string of lovers you had before you got together."

The challenge in her voice was unmistakable. She wanted proof that he had been faithful.

"Lily, I haven't even looked at another girl since the day Olivia said she would be my girl, even when she left me. I can't, I won't have anyone but her and if she ever left me, Lily, I don't know what I'd do. I think I would probably die."

Lily raised her eyebrows.

"No, you wouldn't," she said soothingly. "But," she added, a bit more harshly, "if I ever do find evidence you've been unfaithful, I promise you that you'll wish you were dead. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Absolutely," he said with a snort, "but you don't have to worry about that."

"Sirius," she sighed, "I'm sorry, you know I'm just worried and everything just seems so bleak right now. I mean, what if she doesn't come home?"

"Don't say that," he snapped. "Don't you dare say that. Caradoc promised. She's coming home, all right? She's coming home. Don't you dare say otherwise."

"Right," she sighed. "Right."

They sat awkwardly for a while and Lily made some tea. They were about halfway through awkwardly sipping their tea when there was a sound at the door.

"James," she gasped, moving toward the door.

Sirius set aside his tea and rushed forward with her.

"What did you get me for Christmas last year?" Sirius demanded.

"Damn it Sirius, I'm bleeding, just let me in."

"That's what a Death Eater would say," Sirius growled. "I'm not putting Lily in danger by opening this door if it's not really you, now you tell me right now and we'll patch you up."

"Condoms, damn you, now let me in."

Lily raised her eyebrows and Sirius shrugged with a bit of a smirk as they opened the door. James limped in, smacking Sirius on the head as he made his way across the threshold.

"Why did you buy him Muggle contraceptives?" Lily asked, helping James to the couch and tearing off the ripped fabric around the part of James's leg were the blood had soaked through. "Didn't think Olivia was using the potion?"

"It was a bit of a joke," Sirius admitted. "But also, sometimes she doesn't use the potion. She's a bit forgetful, so we use the potion and the charm. Most nights. The rest of the time we just hope she didn't forget. Anyway, these weren't typical condoms, anyway."

"No?" Lily said, suspiciously as she cleaned the wound. "What did you do to them?"

Sirius clicked his tongue and pulled out his wand, siphoning away some of the blood so that Lily could see better.

"Why do you always assume I've done something I shouldn't? They were flavored."

"Flavored…"

"Chocolate flavored, Olivia told me."

Lily blushed furiously as she bent her head even more over James's leg, healing up the wound, resetting the small break in the bone, and helping Sirius clean the area.

"All better," she said, clearly refusing to continue the previous line of conversation, which made both men laugh. "How does it feel James?"

"Like it was healed by an angel," he said soppily, looking up at Lily, who still blushed, and kissing her on the cheek.

"Oi, I helped," Sirius said indignantly. "Where's my kiss?"

Lily and James laughed and James said, "I'm not putting my lips on your ugly mug, mate. They're reserved for Lily. Find someone else to kiss you."

Sirius smiled tightly as James realized that he'd just poured salt in the wound of Olivia being away on a mission and the tension in the room was so thick they could have cut it with a knife.

"Sorry," James said finally, as Sirius swallowed awkwardly, attempting to maintain his tense smile.

"No, it's fine," Sirius lied. "Don't worry about it. She's fine. Livia's always fine."

But they all knew that was a lie. Still nobody wanted to be the one to say that she was almost never fine, very rarely, in fact. With a sigh, Sirius said, "You know, I think I'm going to go back home."

"You sure?" James asked, concerned. "I mean, you're perfectly welcome to stay here."

James, being a good friend, didn't mention that he knew Sirius hated being alone in that house.

"No, I'll be fine," Sirius lied. "I have laundry I'm supposed to do, anyway."

"Bring it here," Lily said softly. "I'll do it."

"No, no–"

"If you mess up the laundry, Livia will kill you when she gets back," Lily snapped. "Just bring it here and I'll do it."

Sirius didn't want to be alone, but he knew that if he didn't stay with Lily and James, they would visit him in the night, anyway, just to make sure he was all right… or they would send Remus or Peter or Edgar, or somebody. And so perhaps it would be better to just stay.

"All right," he sighed. "Let me go and get the laundry. I'll be back."

Lily lit up and Sirius Disapparated, gathering up all the laundry he had to do before Olivia came back, putting it in a sack, grabbing a stack of notes Olivia had written him over the years and stuffing them in his pocket, then Apparating back to Godric's Hollow to be with James and Lily, who were still waiting for him in the sitting room.

"I'll take this," Lily said, taking the laundry eagerly and heading off to take care of it right away.

"Eager, isn't she?" Sirius muttered, sitting down next to James, who poured them both some firewhiskey.

"I think it's something about married life," James said with a shrug. "Makes women take laundry very seriously. Livia said she was never like this at school."

"Livia's not like this," Sirius said with a laugh, "but she always gets annoyed with me if I don't do it while she's gone. And she doesn't find it amusing when I say I've left it as a present for her."

James gave a short laugh.

"Yeah, well, I imagine she's got plenty of other stress in her life," he said. "She doesn't need your pants added to the equation."

"We all have," Sirius sighed. "I mean, just think of how much stress I have, dealing with her nearly getting herself killed and captured on a semi-regular basis. But she doesn't think of that, and I don't want her to. I could never ask her to stay home in hiding while I'm off fighting, and she knows she could never ask me to stop fighting, so we both fight and pretend we're not as scared as we really are. But what if she dies, James? What would I do?"

James hesitated a moment, looking down at the firewhiskey in his hands. He got a look of resolve on his face and finally said, "You'd be all right. We'd take care of you. You'd make it."

"I don't feel like I'd make it," Sirius sighed.

"She'd want you to be okay, Sirius," James said softly. "I think nothing would cause her more pain than the thought that if something happened to her you would really not be okay. You know that."

"I know," Sirius said with a nod. "That's why I don't tell her. I hate causing her pain."

James just shook his head, and Sirius knew exactly what he was thinking. There was nothing healthy about the way that Sirius and Olivia kept secrets from each other, even lied to each other, in order to protect one another. They did nothing but make things worse, and deep down they both knew it, but neither of them wanted to be the one to break through that painful way of doing things. Even though it would be better in the end, the pain it would cause in the short term to bare all their secrets was too much.

"You should get some sleep, Sirius," James said softly. "If she comes back tomorrow, you don't want to greet her looking like the wreck you are now."

Sirius swatted James playfully, but the laugh they would have usually shared at such an exchange was absent from both of their lips. Things didn't seem as funny anymore, now that they were in the real world, fighting the war. The good things seemed good, and the bad things seemed bad, but it was harder to take pleasure in the good things unless they were really, really good, because the bad things were so very bad.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed, stretching out. "You're probably right."

"Laundry's going, Sirius!" Lily called. "Don't touch anything and I'll finish it tomorrow!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lily," he called back, smiling tensely at James. Women and laundry.

"Night," James said, clapping Sirius's shoulder.

"Night," Sirius sighed.

James left Sirius alone in the sitting room, where Sirius liked to sleep, because he would be the first one to wake up if Olivia came looking for them, the first to see her. He curled up on the couch and reread the notes, holding everything from declarations of her love to reminders about meetings, to chastisements for not wiping toothpaste off the sink.

He saved them all.


	32. Exceptional

**November, 1972**

When Remus saw them carrying Olivia into the hospital wing his heart felt like it was being pulled out of his chest. He gave a strangled cry and the other Marauder's filed in after Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn, and Professor Mackenzie, who were carrying her in. The look on Sirius's face said it all. She had faced Snape, and she had lost.

The blood was congealing all over her hair, and the way her hair was sitting, Remus guessed that there was a sizable split in her scalp, a crack across her skull. So much blood…

Madam Pomfrey screamed.

"Cromwell again?" she said faintly as she recovered herself, helping them lower her body onto the bed next to Remus. "That girl does get injured with alarming regularity, doesn't she?"

"What happened?" cried Remus. "Why is there so much blood? Who did this to her?"

"Mr. Snape was a bit overzealous in the final round and put quite a bit of power behind his charm," said Professor Mackenzie, as though trying to remain calm. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, however, exchanged skeptical glances.

"He did this on purpose!" cried Remus. "He tried to kill her! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to–"

"Mr. Lupin, that's quite enough!" said Professor McGonagall sharply. "Now, there is no proof whatsoever that this was anything other than an accident, and Mr. Snape shall be required to extend a full apology to Miss Cromwell when she awakes."

"If she awakes," muttered Remus looking over at her limp, pale body.

"Mr. Lupin," said Professor McGonagall, in a far softer, more gentle voice than he had ever expected out of her, "I understand this is a difficult thing in the best of times, and I also understand that this is the worst time possible for you to take such news, but nothing you do will make her any better. You simply need to let all of us do our jobs and care for her. All right?"

Remus whimpered slightly, looking at the pale figure who was his girlfriend, bleeding profusely onto the pillowcase. She looked so vulnerable, so weak, so lifeless. He wasn't sure what was worse, this or the post-duel Olivia, shrieking for hours. Sirius and James looked incredibly guilty, and Peter just looked horrified.

Madam Pomfrey tended to her busily, while the Marauders stayed under the pretext of visiting Remus, though all four pairs of eyes were glued to Olivia, and not a word was spoken. When Madam Pomfrey finally drew back from Olivia's pale body, the blood was gone, the hair seemed to be sitting more normally on her head, and she was breathing ever-so-lightly. Madam Pomfrey turned around to find herself being stared at by eight eyes and tutted.

"She'll live, boys. It's likely she'll be out for several days with all the potions I had to force down her throat, and I'll need to keep her at least a couple more to make sure there were no complications, but I expect she'll be out by the end of a week. You're welcome to stay if you don't disturb her, although I recommend you rest, Mr. Lupin."

She retreated into her office, leaving the four boys to stare at their injured friend.

"I feel responsible," muttered Sirius.

"So do I," muttered James.

"You shouldn't," said Sirius, shaking his head. "You didn't have to go up against Snivellus. I did. Right before her, he beat me. I feel so incredibly horrible that I failed her like that."

"She'd hit you if she heard you talking like that," said Peter meekly. "She'd say she deserved another go at him and it's her own bloody fault for not finishing him off."

"Yeah," said James with a snort, "despite the fact that she said in front of more than a hundred people that she knew she couldn't win."

"She said that?" said Remus, frowning.

"After last year," said Sirius softly, "I'm surprised she didn't refuse to do it, or at least that she could stand there not shaking in her shoes."

"What are we going to do about Snivellus?" said James viciously.

"Do about him?" said Remus with a blink.

"He did that on purpose and nobody thinks otherwise," growled Sirius. "You didn't see the looks on Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick's faces when they heard his fake apology. They knew he overshot on purpose, if only because they know he's so good he never messes up. And he's a Slytherin–"

"And he's Snivellus!" quipped James.

" – so it's perfectly within the code," said Sirius. "I'm sure Livia wouldn't mind, in fact she probably wants to do him in herself, but since she can't…"

"Well, I don't think we all should do something," muttered Remus. "I have to stay here for about a week, after all, like her. I'll look after her; make sure they don't come in after her. You guys do what you have to do."

"Oh Moony," sighed James, "it's so good to have your blessing."

"But we would have done it anyway," said Sirius with a snort.

"But tonight," said James, "we'll have Peter sneak in and look after her while you're gone, so they don't try anything. How about, sneak him down when Madam Pomfrey's taking you to the tree, and then have him sneak out in the morning while she's getting you back out?"

"Sounds good," said Remus.

"Where am I supposed to hide?" squeaked Peter. "And what would I even do if they're here for her?"

"We'll think of something," said Sirius thoughtfully, looking around the room for a suitable hiding spot for Peter.

"Firstly, we need to plan our revenge," growled James.

"Right," said Sirius. "We ought to go to the dormitory, then, give Moony some plausible deniability."

And with that, the three non-bedridden Marauders filed out of the infirmary, leaving Remus to stare at Olivia. Her hair was still ratty and messy where the blood had congealed. It was strange, because Olivia's hair always was perfect without her doing a thing to it. He would have been surprised if she had ever brushed it a day in her life. She would certainly have to brush it now. Unless…

He crawled out of bed and knocked on Madam Pomfrey's door. She frowned at him for being out of bed, but when he asked if she had something he could brush Olivia's hair with, her face softened, and she nodded, finding him a comb. Remus thanked her, asked if it was safe to move Olivia around, and she said yes, so he lifted Olivia carefully into a sitting position, sat down behind her, and let her body lean against him as he ran the comb through her hair. It was soft, though tangled, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes as he tended her silky black locks.

He should have been there. Even though he couldn't have changed anything, if she had had a boyfriend who was whole and healthy and normal, he would have been there, beating the apology out of Snape on sight, following on the teacher's heels as they carried her up to the hospital wing, being shooed out at night by Madam Pomfrey because he wouldn't leave her side, wanting to be there when she woke up, missing classes just to hold her hand as she lay there, unconscious.

Instead, he would be sleeping in the bed next to her all day, and most nights, but the first night, the night she would be all alone in the hospital wing, Remus would be turning into a monster and attacking himself because there was nothing else to attack. He didn't deserve to be touching her, much less stroking her beautiful, perfect hair. He felt horrible.

Sirius and Peter came to visit after dinner. James had a detention, most likely for something they had done to Snape, judging by the fact that neither boy would say, but both grinned widely and shared a mischievous glance. Sirius sat on Olivia's bed and began stroking the soft hair that Remus had been brushing earlier, and for some reason, Remus wanted to attack him. It was probably just the full moon talking.

"Hey, beautiful," whispered Sirius as Remus pretended to listen to Peter's yammering about the sweets his mother had sent him. "You're going to be okay, Livia. I promise. Everything's going to be okay."

Remus's anger melted away. Sirius cared more than almost anyone about Olivia's safety, and it had never bothered Remus before, but seeing Sirius take such careful care of her made his heart twinge. He was sure there was something between them, even if neither of them realized it, and it was only a matter of time before one of them did. The thought of not having Olivia anymore, far off though that day probably was, hurt like a knife to the chest.

And then it happened.

Olivia didn't open her eyes. She didn't move. She barely stirred at all. But from Olivia's parted lips came a sigh that sounded so much like Sirius's name that when the two boys' eyes met, there was something like an apology behind the gray ones which Remus was beginning to recognize with his own pain. Sirius didn't mean to cause him this pain, and he knew it, but Remus couldn't help but realize that every little thing he fell short on, Sirius was the one who was making up for it in spades, and it seemed Olivia noticed it too, somewhere in her mind.

Peter looking uncomfortable was a bit of an understatement. He found a way to excuse himself promptly, though the other two boys weren't listening to what it was. They were staring at each other, the tension between them horribly thick.

"So," muttered Remus as the door closed behind Peter.

"Moony, I…" began Sirius, but he shook his head. "Look, I don't want to take her from you, Remus, you have to believe me."

"I do."

"Then why is it every time something like this happens, you give me that look like I'm swooping in and stealing her from your arms?"

Remus flinched. He knew he was overreacting. They were twelve-year-old kids playing at the game of relationships. What did he know about signs and such? Still, he couldn't deny that the fact Sirius was holding Olivia in his arms at that moment made him want to gouge out Sirius's eyes.

Yep. Definitely the full moon talking.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I know I overreact. I'm sure it's the wolf in me, so protective of her."

Sirius sighed and shrugged, gazing down at Olivia's peaceful face. At least he was no longer running his fingers through her hair, small comfort though it was.

"We're all a bit protective of Livia, Moony. It's like I told her, she made us what we are. Without her, I don't think the Marauders would ever have existed."

"Nobody's more protective of her than we are, Sirius," said Remus, acknowledging his friend's constant care for Olivia's well-being since they knew her.

"She gets mad at me for it," said Sirius with a sigh. "That was the first thing we ever fought over, was her being all mad because I defended her honor at the Christmas party last year. But I can't help it, Remus; I just want to take care of her. We all do! I don't know. There's something about her. She's far from fragile, and I know she can take care of herself, but what about the times she can't?"

Remus nodded. He understood exactly what Sirius was talking about. All he wanted to do was wrap Olivia up in his arms for the rest of his life and know she was safe.

But she wouldn't be safe. Once every month, he couldn't hold her without putting her in danger of himself. He could protect her from the rest of the world if he had to, but there was nothing he could do to protect her from himself, and that stung.

"We just have to do what we can," muttered Remus, biting his lip thoughtfully. "When do you think she'll wake up?"

Sirius shrugged and began petting her hair again.

"Madam Pomfrey said several days. Could be two, three…"

"I want her to wake up now."

"Me too. But I don't think wishing it would make it happen."

Remus sighed.

"What about those fairytales they tell Muggle children?"

Sirius frowned.

"What fairytales?"

Remus shrugged. Of course, Sirius's parents wouldn't have been the type to read him Muggle stories as a child.

"My mum used to read me Muggle stories as a kid. Most of them were meant for girls, I think, but some weren't bad. Anyway, whenever the beautiful princess was hurt or asleep, she could always be awakened by her true love's kiss."

Sirius blinked, as though trying to decide if this method was worth giving a chance. His eyes narrowed, and he looked down at her sleeping face.

"Well, she's certainly beautiful," he said softly. "And Fabian calls her princess. And she's hurt and asleep… Want to kiss her and give it a try, Moony?"

Remus hesitated. Did he want to kiss her? Yes. Did he want to kiss her while she was unconscious in a hospital cot? Not especially. Did he want her to wake up? Of course. Did he want to get his hopes up and then not have it work? No. But he had been foolish enough to mention it in front of someone else, and now Sirius was looking at him expectantly, so he got up, moved over to her bed, and leaned over her peaceful, sleeping face. He froze with his lips just above hers, admiring their perfect, elegant curve. It wasn't really a good idea for him to do this, but he wasn't in a position where he could back down now, so he leaned forward ever-so-slightly and pressed his lips to hers for just a moment before pulling back and scrambling quickly back into his own bed, staring at her. But Olivia didn't move. Her chest rose and fell with her steady breath, but she was otherwise unchanged.

"Guess the Muggle way doesn't work," Sirius muttered softly, not meeting Remus's eyes.

Remus sighed and lay back in his bed, closing his eyes and trying not to think about what was going through both of their minds. Maybe that method didn't work. Or maybe he wasn't Olivia's true love. The thought had certainly crossed his mind, and he and Sirius just sat there in each other's silent company, Remus's eyes shut, for what felt like forever. It was probably five minutes.

He could hear Sirius shifting slightly on the bed and several minutes later, he heard a pained moan. His eyes flew open, and he expected to see Sirius in some sort of uncomfortable position, but instead he saw Olivia looking up at Sirius, clutching her head and wincing in pain.

"What in the name of Merlin happened?" she whispered.

Remus breathed a sigh of relief and sat up, smiling at her.

"You're going to be fine, love. Snape used a bit too much force and knocked you out against the wall with his Disarming Charm, but Madam Pomfrey says you ought to be fine. You'll probably be here a couple more days so she can be sure."

Olivia tried to sit up and winced.

"Was I supposed to be awake now?"

"Uh, no," said Remus. "She wasn't expecting you to wake up for a couple of days, to be honest."

"That's what I figured," she moaned. "I feel horrible."

"I'll go get Madam Pomfrey," said Sirius, trying to slide from beneath her, but Olivia groaned and grabbed his legs, keeping him from moving.

"Please don't move!" she cried. "Please, it makes the room spin!"

"I'll get her," said Remus, wishing now that they hadn't wanted her to be awake so badly.

Remus made his way into the office of Madam Pomfrey to find her dozing in her chair. The poor woman probably spent most nights being woken up at odd hours, and she probably had wanted to get a nap in before taking Remus out to the shack. He shook her gently and informed her that Olivia was awake and felt horrible and she jumped into action, concern on her face.

"I don't understand… Are you feeling well enough to fetch Professor Slughorn, Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then do, please. I think I might need a second opinion on this one."

Remus ran as fast as his feet could carry him, praying Professor Slughorn was in the staff room, because his office was just too far away. Olivia needed him now.

As fate would have it, he literally ran into Professor Slughorn, who was walking and talking with Professor Dumbledore on the floor below, and frantically told them what had happened with Olivia and that Madam Pomfrey had sent him to fetch the portly man. The two Professors exchanged worried glances and took off toward the infirmary swiftly, Remus following behind, nursing a stitch in his chest.

When they reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was pacing the floor and Olivia was holding on to Sirius's arm so tightly that Remus could see that she was actually cutting off his circulation. But Sirius either hadn't noticed or didn't care because he was petting her hair and muttering something in her ear that Remus couldn't hear from the doorway. Likely, he was comforting her. Madam Pomfrey sighed with relief when she spotted Professor Slughorn waddling her way, and she dragged him into the confines of her office to discuss whatever had her so worried that she had been pacing over it. Professor Dumbledore glided over to where Olivia was shaking in Sirius's arms, pulled up a chair, and gave her a sad smile. Remus passed his own bed and followed Professor Dumbledore's example, not wanting to be quite so far away from her.

"Hello, Miss Cromwell. It appears you've had a bit of a trying day." She made a small squeaking sound and nodded slightly. "I understand you're in quite a lot of pain. It's a bit of a shame you awoke when you did, you know. We had just finished dinner, and I know how much you would have liked to have been there."

Remus breathed a little easier when he saw Olivia exchange a small smile with the headmaster. All relief he had disappeared, however, when Professor Slughorn and Madam Pomfrey came out of the office with grave expressions, heading over to the crowd gathered around Olivia's bed.

"Well, Miss Cromwell, you've done it again," said Professor Slughorn with a nervous smile. "You've proven to be exceptional once more."

"Only not in a way most would aspire to," said Madam Pomfrey seriously. "My dear, have you ever been to the hospital? I mean, as a child?"

"N-no," said Olivia, her voice sounding strained. "My father didn't want me to go to London, but my g-grandmother used to be a Healer, so she took care of me when I needed it."

"Was that very often?" said Madam Pomfrey, fear on her face.

"Well, I mean, I don't know…" said Olivia frowning. "I guess. I was an active child and I fell quite a lot."

"How often, would you say, dear?" said Professor Slughorn kindly. "Once a year? Twice a year?"

Olivia shrugged.

"Maybe four or five times a year."

They exchanged worried glances and Professor Dumbledore's frown made Remus shiver.

"Well, that's no more than she averages here," said Professor Slughorn, fidgeting nervously.

"But four or five times a year for thirteen years, Horace?" said Madam Pomfrey, horrified. "It's no wonder the girl's awake already. What are we going to do? The dosage she would need could kill her."

"Excuse me?" said Sirius, his voice slightly higher than usual. "Kill her?"

"She's taken a lot of pain and sleeping potions in her life," said Professor Slughorn. "You see this problem, although rarely, with some elderly witches and wizards. Part of it is in the blood. But part of it is in the ingredients found in sleeping and pain potions. She's gathered a kind of immunity to them, and to actually relieve her pain or keep her asleep, it would take a considerable amount of potion. It could kill her if we were to give her that amount."

"So effectively, what you're saying is I'm just going to have to live with the throbbing pain in my skull?" moaned Olivia, in what she clearly thought was a nonchalant way.

Professor Slughorn frowned and considered her for a moment, as if trying to find the most diplomatic way possible to present his news. Then, with a defeated look he sighed and said, "Yes, that is the general idea. I'm so sorry."

Remus's jaw dropped.

**A/N: I have a story idea for y'all… tell me what you think. If nobody says they like it, I won't write it.**

_**Virginia Ramsay never would have guessed she would ever be in this situation, convincing Sirius Black that there were things worth living for. Just a year ago, the roles had been reversed. Funny thing, time.**_


	33. The Most Important

**November, 1972**

Sirius was sitting in the corner of the common room, waiting for it to be time for Madam Pomfrey to take Remus down to the shack so that Olivia would be alone in the infirmary. As soon as it was time, he was going to sneak down and spend the night with her, to protect her and also to keep her company. His mind was partly on that, but also on the events of the day. The most painful reaction to Olivia's latest dilemma was her own. She had looked so resigned, so in pain, and there was nothing anyone could do to fix it.

James and Peter had not taken it well. James in particular thought that he had heard Sirius wrong and made him repeat the entire story at least a dozen times before he was satisfied that he had, in fact, heard correctly and that he just didn't want it to be true. Lily had overheard that particular exchange and became so horrified that she vowed to discover a new way of brewing pain and sleeping potions so that Olivia would be better again.

But lots of vows are made at twelve, and nearly all are meant to be forgotten or flat-out broken. Sirius suspected forgotten in this case. As stubborn as Lily Evans was, by the time she had enough knowledge of potions to even dream of accomplishing her task, she would be years down the road from that vow.

The alarm on Peter's watch went off, signaling the time they agreed upon for Sirius's departure. He hoisted his bag over his shoulder, muttered that he had a late detention, in case anyone wondered about his leaving so late, and headed out into the hall. It was a plausible excuse, after the revenge they had exacted on Snivellus. They hadn't actually been caught, since no one could prove it was them, but everyone knew it was. As soon as he got around the corner, he pulled James's Invisibility Cloak out of his bag and draped it over himself, hurrying as quietly as possible to the infirmary.

He eased the door open, hoping his timing wasn't off, and was rewarded by the sight of Olivia tossing and turning violently in her bed, whimpering softly to herself, clearly unable to get comfortable. When he pulled off the cloak, she sat straight up, wincing as she did so before instantly forcing a smile onto her face.

"Sirius," she said with a scratchy voice as he hurried to her side. "Remus said Peter was coming. This is a pleasant surprise."

Sirius smiled and sat down next to her, pushing her gently back onto her pillows with his hands on her shoulders.

"Peter was anxious about it, and it was James's turn with homework anyway, so James said I could come and take care of you."

Olivia gave a weak smile and made a little motion for him to lie down. Sirius wouldn't lie to himself, he was tired, but he felt awkward, crawling under the covers with Remus's girlfriend. And for some reason, he did it anyway. Almost instinctively, his arms wrapped around Olivia's tense little body and pulled her close to him.

"How are you feeling, Livia?" he whispered, petting her hair.

"Anxious," she sighed back. "I hope Remus is okay."

"He will be, love," breathed Sirius. "Tomorrow morning he'll be right back here and you'll be chatting about magical theory and everything will be back to normal, I promise."

He probably shouldn't have promised that, and he knew it, but he would have promised her the moon if she would have asked for it, so great was his guilt at not beating Snivellus before the final round. He could have protected her, but he failed. Sirius didn't dare voice any of this aloud, however, because somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was being ridiculous and completely unreasonable.

The most important thing to him was keeping Olivia feeling happy and secure, so he held her, cuddled her, attempted to sing her a popular song from a popular Wizarding band, and got smacked for apparently singing off-key. He couldn't tell the difference, but they laughed, and for a little while, at least, Sirius hoped that she had forgotten her pain.

Sirius didn't get any sleep that night, and he was perfectly okay with that. He spent the entire time gazing down at Olivia's moonlit face, willing her peaceful dreams, and for the first time, his mere presence by her side wasn't enough. She tossed, turned, moaned, and even screamed in pain a couple of times. And he woke her up a few times, but after the third time he stopped, because it always took her far too long to fall back to sleep again. He was afraid if he kept waking her up, neither of them would get any sleep. He had never felt so helpless in all of his life.

Nothing bad happened, however, and once Remus was back in the hospital wing and something close to awake, Sirius slipped the cloak back on and headed back to the dormitory, depositing it before breakfast. James had already begun dishing him up eggs and toast by the time he got to the table.

"How was she?" he asked as Sirius sat down, pulling the plate toward himself.

Sirius shrugged.

"I mean, she's been a lot worse, but she's not in great shape at the moment," he admitted. "I think part of it was that she was so worried about Moony."

"How did he look?" said Peter as he put ketchup on his eggs, ignoring the frowns of James and Sirius, who thought that was the most disgusting use of ketchup known to man.

"He was tired, obviously," said Sirius with another little shrug. "I think he might have tried to gnaw off one of his claws, but Madam Pomfrey healed most of it while I was still there. He'll have a scar, of course, but better than not having a finger…"

"I can't imagine living without all of my fingers," said Peter softly, with a little shudder. "Think of all the things you couldn't do."

"You could do most things with four fingers," said James adamantly, "you just better hope that one of those four is a thumb."

"Can we talk about something else?" said Sirius as a queasy feeling came over him when his eyes spotted the sausage.

"Sure, let's talk about the upcoming Quidditch season," said James eagerly. "Did McGonagall give you the spot?"

"With great hesitation," said Sirius with a sly grin, "but then, she said she had hesitation with Prewett as well, but it's always the people who cause the most hesitation who do the best job."

"Prewett did a spectacular job," mused James, happily poking his eggs and watching them jiggle. "Evans!" he cried suddenly, absently ruffling his hair and grinning over Sirius's shoulder. Sirius groaned and turned around to find Mary, Margery and Lily standing behind him, frowning at James.

"How's Livia doing?" said Mary softly.

"She's doing okay," said Sirius, taking a swig of pumpkin juice. "She's in pain, obviously, and having trouble sleeping, but there's not a lot to be done about that."

"I just wish there was something we could do to help," said Lily thoughtfully, sitting down at the table beside Sirius. "Maybe Sev knows of something we could do to alter the potions…"

"No," snapped Sirius. "That git isn't touching anything that goes into Livia's mouth. He could have killed her."

"It was an accident," snarled Lily. "He didn't do it on purpose."

"Like hell he didn't!" hissed Sirius. "He would have killed her if he could have gotten away with it. You were there, Evans, you know that was on purpose! Snivellus is very good at controlling his spells, there was no way he would have been able to use that much force by accident."

"Don't you dare," shrieked Lily. "Don't you dare make this out to be his fault, Black! You have no idea!"

"Oh?" said Sirius, not noticing that they were now both standing and attracting quite a lot of attention. "What haven't I got an idea of, Evans? This is the second time that grease ball has put the most important person to me in the hospital wing and I'm not going to just let him keep her there by having him tamper with her potions! Open your eyes, Evans, not only does he hate her, but all of his friends have made her life hell since we got to this place."

Lily blinked and James frowned.

"Sirius?" said Mary softly, putting a hand on his arm.

"What?" he snapped, not taking his eyes off Lily's angry green ones.

"Not only are people staring," said Mary gently, pushing him back down into his seat, "but you're ranting. You should finish breakfast and then go see Livia. We ought to go now, Lily."

"Right," said Lily, fuming. "Right."

As soon as the girls were out of sight, James leaned over the table and his eyes narrowed.

"Do you realize what you just said for the whole school to hear?"

"Yeah," snapped Sirius, "I said that Snivelly tried to kill Livia. That's not news to anybody. Half the school saw it."

"Not that," sighed James. "You just called her the most important person to you, in front of everyone. You just called Remus's girl the most important person to you. With your girlfriend a few table's over and your brother on the other side of the room. The rumor mill is going to be going like crazy."

"Let them talk," said Sirius with a shrug. "You know what I mean."

"No," said James. "No, I don't."

"Livia's my baby sister, James," said Sirius with a sigh. "I just want to protect her and keep her safe the rest of her life. There's no way Snivelly is making something she's ingesting. That's not an option."

James sighed, but relented. Sirius began stuffing toast in his mouth at an unusually fast rate, even for him. He turned over the idea of Snivellus having a shot to kill her again, with a potion this time… How easy it would be to make it look like an accident. He was amazing at potions, but everybody made "mistakes", especially so early into second year. Evans was a fool to think it would be a good idea. But then, Evans was always a fool where the greasy git was concerned. What did James see in that girl, anyway?

His eyes scanned the Great Hall for Jiki. She was sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table with her friend Kelly. Sirius excused himself from James and Peter and went to join her. She smiled when he sat beside her and kissed her cheek, and Kelly watched him as he sat down, her eyes sparkling.

"How is Livia?" whispered Jiki.

"She'll be all right," said Sirius. "The recovery will be difficult, but she'll be okay."

"That's good to hear," said Kelly. "Just think, Sirius, he might have done that to you."

"I wish he had," he muttered. "I wish he'd hurt me instead."

Before either girl had a chance to be outraged, however, Snivellus himself stepped over with Eva, Avery, and Regulus in tow.

"That could be arranged, Black," he said. "Wishing you were in the hospital wing with your best friends? Why don't you call over the rest of the freak show and we can arrange for a party in the infirmary for you."

"Snape, please," said Jiki, frowning. "Go to your own table and leave us alone."

"Stay out of it, Sitzer," hissed Eva. "When we want a milksop's opinion, we'll ask for it."

Fire in her eyes, Jiki stood swiftly, her wand out. For a moment, Sirius was reminded almost painfully of Olivia. He smirked.

"What, not rushing to defend your girlfriend's honor, Black?" sneered Snape.

"She doesn't need it," said Sirius with a shrug. "As you can see, she knows how to take care of herself. Besides, a basic rule for life, Snivelly, is not to get between two women who are having a disagreement. It just might be the last thing you do." He looked at all of the faces sneering at him. "Why are you with these people, Regulus? Don't you have any sense of dignity?"

"Don't you, brother?" whispered Regulus. "I'm sorry for what happened to your friend, but she has made the wrong choices, much like yourself."

Sirius stood beside Jiki, his wand out as well, and Eva stood between him and his brother. Before anyone could do another thing, however, Yaxley approached and stood between Sirius and Eva.

"I'll not have you threaten Miss Morecomb, Black. Twenty points from Gryffindor."

"Ah, but you would know all about Livia's supposed accident, wouldn't you, Yaxley?" hissed Sirius. "Why don't you tell my dear brother here just how accidental it was?"

Yaxley just smirked.

"Don't be a fool, Black. As much as your little friend would like to believe it so, the world doesn't revolve around her. Some things truly are, as you call them, accidents."

"But this wasn't," Sirius snarled.

And Yaxley just smirked.

"Good day, Black."

And with that, the Slytherins dispersed, Regulus included, although he looked back at Sirius for a mere moment with questioning eyes. At least he was thinking, for now. At least he wasn't just following completely blind. There was hope for him yet.

"I need to see Livia," Sirius muttered to Jiki. "I'll talk with you at lunch, all right?"

"Of course, Sirius," she whispered. "See you then."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and stormed up to the infirmary, where Olivia was watching a battered-looking Remus sleep. She held a finger to her lips when he came in and he nodded, sitting down beside her. She winced as she moved to make room for him.

"If I kill Yaxley, do you have any objections or suggestions?" he breathed into her ear. It must have tickled, because she giggled and brushed her hand over where his breath had hit her skin.

"Why, Sirius?" she hissed back. "Has he done something worse than usual?"

"No," he muttered, hugging her. "But why would he need to? He deserved to die anyway."

Olivia sighed and messed with Sirius's hair lazily.

"He'll die in the war, then, and you won't have to go to jail over it."

Sirius smirked.

"You really think they'd send a thirteen-year-old to jail, much less one of the Noble House of Black?"

"For murder?" she hissed. "Yes, I do. You'll get away with a lot of other things, but not murder, Sirius. Even you aren't immune from that."

Sirius frowned.

"You sound so sure."

Olivia bit her lip.

"I am. Don't ask. I don't want to talk about it. Just, promise me, that no matter what happens, ever, you won't kill anybody?"

"Even if someone kills you?" he whispered, worried. What was she going on about?

"Especially if someone kills me. I don't want you going to jail over something like that. I'd rather you only ever kill somebody in self-defense, if you absolutely have to. Okay?" Her big green eyes looked up at him, pleadingly. "Please, promise me?"

"All right, Livia," he sighed, hugging her tightly. "I promise."

She visibly relaxed, and even smiled a little at his words, sinking into his arms and kissing his cheek. He had missed this, he couldn't lie. He had missed cuddling with Olivia. He was almost glad that Remus was unconscious, so the only obstacle to his enjoying the moment was his own guilt. But it's not like he was doing anything wrong, so why did he feel guilty? After all, Sirius wasn't kissing her, touching her inappropriately. He was just hugging his best friend, his little sister, like he might hug James.

Except the very idea of hugging James like this, of cuddling with James like this, made Sirius's stomach churn. He was thirteen. He was way too old to be hugging his male friends like this.

So what about his female friends? Especially the ones who were dating his best friends? Was that also not okay? Shouldn't this make his stomach churn as well? It sort of did, but not in the same way. It was a pleasant sort of churning, peaceful in a sense, comforting. But Sirius pushed it all from his mind and ignored all churning of his stomach, figuring it was something he ate, anyway.

"Excited for Halloween Two?" said Sirius with a little smirk.

"So excited!" she squealed softly. "You're going to love my costume."

"That depends," he whispered back. "Are we going to have to cover you up?"

She swatted him playfully, but the sparkle in her eyes told him that they would, indeed, have to follow her around and hex any bloke who got too handsy, even if she wouldn't let them cover her up. Poor Remus couldn't protect her from all the hormone-driven males on his own, so Sirius vowed to himself to keep a very close watch on her during the entire party.

"I should probably go," Sirius whispered. "James wanted me to help him figure out how much food to get, and I promised Jiki I'd meet up with her and Kiki for a fly around the pitch later. Your Quidditch captain wished for me to inquire as to your condition and if you'd be up for practice Saturday morning."

Olivia giggled.

"Tell Bakester I'm in excellent shape, thank you, very much. I'll be ready for practice."

"All right, then," he groaned, kissing her on the forehead and crawling off her bed. "I'll see you either later today or sometime tomorrow. Like during whatever we've got for class before lunch. I could do with a longer break between classes."

Olivia snickered, shook her head, and blew him a kiss as he backed out of the infirmary, a grin pasted on his face, but a frown inside as he wondered how she would really do at practice on Saturday, and how well she could really recover if they couldn't give her the potions she needed.

**A/N: It has been brought to my attention that there is a desire for me to update more often. If you agree with this sentiment, please pass it along in a message or review and I'll do my best to up my speediness. With only three reviews on this story, I'm finding it hard to believe that anybody's actually reading this but me.**


	34. Unsatisfactory

**A/N: I'm out of pre-written content from **_**The Marauders Get Close**_**, so I took that story down. From here on out, while there is some pre-written work, none of it has been posted before. Also, if you're interested in a companion to this piece beyond the other generations (Olivia's mother is up, BTW, **_**Don't Let Go of Me**_**), you should check out **_**You're the Better Part of Me**_**, which is a conglomeration between this storyline and my story Broken. Olivia exists, as well as her daughter!**

**-J**

**November, 1972**

Olivia twisted her hair into a ponytail, gazing at it in the mirror. She wanted to get her slave outfit just right, ignoring the pain that still shot through her body. She had told Madam Pomfrey that she felt only minor pain because she didn't want to miss Halloween Two, but she was still in excruciating pain much of the time, although it had faded a noticeable amount.

"I can't believe you're wearing that," Lily said, sniffing. "Or rather, not wearing, as the case may be."

Olivia smirked, knowing that Lily's scandal at Olivia's outfit was bound to bring Remus to his knees. And that was the whole point. Well, that and the sight of Sirius speechless was always nice.

"Relax, Lily," she sighed. "We can't all go as modest figures from ancient Asian culture."

Lily went on a rant about who she was meant to be portraying, but Olivia readjusted her shackles, not listening. She considered her reflection, and talking over Lily said, "Mary, Margery, what do you think?"

Mary and Margery looked over from their attempt at charming their togas to stick throughout the night.

"Oh, wow," Mary sighed, taking in the torn strips of fabric and the strategically placed shackles. "Beautiful. But your hair is too perfect."

Olivia laughed.

"I tried messing it up," she sighed, "but it didn't work."

Mary touched the silky black locks thoughtfully and said, "Here, sit on the bed. I'm going to try a few things. We'll give you sex hair yet!"

"Mary!" Lily squeaked, scandalized.

"What, it matches her outfit," Mary said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She winked at Olivia, who simply giggled conspiratorially. Olivia loved Lily and Margery could be very sweet, but it was nice to have someone like Mary around to let Olivia be herself, even when that was a bit… unconventional.

"All right," Mary said slowly. "Hold still."

Mary propped up a book of hair-care spells and started flipping through it manically. She tried a few, but they did absolutely nothing. She flipped through the book even more manically, and finally Lily sighed and said, "Oh, move over."

When she was positioned behind Olivia, Lily pulled out a bag with Muggle hair products and found some Muggle hairspray.

"Sorry," she said, "this isn't going to smell very nice. But it's going to let me work with your hair and mess it up a bit, all right?"

"Go for it," Olivia said, waving her hands in approval.

The stuff smelled truly disgusting, but not even five minutes later, Lily coughed and announced that she was done.

Olivia rushed over to the mirror, mostly to escape the fumes of the hairspray, and realized that Lily had actually managed to give her tousled sex hair. She squealed happily, gave Lily an eager kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Lily!" she cried. "I can't wait to show the boys!"

"Wait!" Margery yelled, stopping Olivia before she went to rush downstairs to show off her costume. "Mascara!"

Olivia sighed. She hated mascara. The stuff always found a way to get into her eyes no matter what she did. Still, she held as still as possible and allowed Margery to put the black stuff on her eyes, blinked rapidly when it was finished, and said, "All right, can I go now?"

"Yes," Mary said eagerly. "Go, go! Go on and show Remus!"

With a laugh, Olivia rushed down the stairs, finding the boys lounging on the couches in togas. She shivered a little bit, not for cold but for excitement. She was going to shock them.

"Boys," she said teasingly, and they all turned to look at her, jaws dropping simultaneously. She held out her shackled arms and said, "Who's in charge of the slave girl tonight?"

For a moment, nobody said anything, and they simply continued to stare at her, awed. Finally, James elbowed Remus, who snapped his jaw shut and cleared his throat.

"Don't you think…" he said, searching for the words that would be most diplomatic. "Don't you think it's a bit chilly for that costume?"

She looked up at him innocently, wrapping her arms around his neck and saying, "Dancing will keep me warm, especially if I stay close to the person I'm dancing with."

Remus shuddered and Sirius made a little noise in his throat that sounded like gurgling. Peter squeaked, and even James had to shake his head a little bit, like there was water in his ears he was trying to get out.

"Have you finished setups yet?" Olivia asked eagerly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Barely started," Peter said honestly, earning himself glares from the other boys.

Olivia sighed.

"All right, let's get to it."

At first, she tried to help them with the wandwork and physical lifting, but Sirius soon realized that she wasn't as well recovered as she had insisted she was. He made her sit down and did the lifting she had been doing, telling Remus that she was still in pain. Remus rushed to her side, frowning.

"You told me you were fine," he whispered. "Why did you lie?"

"Because," she said with a shrug.

"That's not a reason."

She stuck out her tongue playfully, but Remus didn't laugh or relent. He was still frowning at her somberly. Olivia looked down at her hands in her lap and folded them gracefully. She wasn't going to relent either, then, if he insisted on being stubborn and over-protective as Sirius.

They didn't have time for their unproductive power struggle, though, because the party was starting soon and there were students filing in already. Olivia stayed close to Remus, at his request, although he needn't request such a thing in the first place. They talked to the Sitzer twins, who loved Olivia's costume, helped Peter serve drinks, and even danced a bit. Remus was never very comfortable dancing, but now that they were a couple he seemed to think it his duty to ask her to dance at least a few times a night.

"You look beautiful, Livia," he whispered. "You always look beautiful."

"Well, I certainly try," she sighed. "You look quite nice in your toga, Remus," she teased, running her finger along his chest where there was a gap in the toga. He turned red and shuddered.

"Don't tease me," he muttered. "I'm a teenaged boy. I don't take well to teasing."

She just giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her barely clothed body against his.

"Ready for Quidditch?" she sighed into his ear.

"Cheering you on as always," he whispered. "Livia, please, you're driving me crazy."

"Please, what?" she teased.

He just whimpered as she pressed her lips to his jaw and she laughed into the playful kiss.

Olivia didn't last the whole night, though. About halfway through the party, James had the guests all sing happy birthday to Olivia and Sirius, who accepted their congratulations gracefully, and kissed each other on the cheek for show. But then she was in too much pain and retreated up to her room to wash up.

She allowed the warm water of the shower to cascade in a hard jet over her aching body and it dulled the ever-present pain. With as much shampoo as she could fit on her hand, she washed her hair feverishly, trying to get all of the hairspray out. It felt good to get the horrible sticky stuff out, though it had certainly done its job. Then she gently washed her skin off, massaging her tender muscles, knowing that it was better to have sore muscles than raw nerves, as she had had earlier, at Quidditch practice. Bakester had complained that she was off form, and all she could say was that she would practice extra on her own. If she were to tell him the real problem, he would surely make her quit for her own health and safety.

"Livia?"

It was Lily.

"I'm in here," Olivia called, turning off the water. She grabbed her towel and began to dry off as Lily came into the bathroom, frowning a little.

"I saw you'd left and I thought I'd check and see if you were okay," Lily said softly. "No point in me staying if you'd left. There was nobody else I was celebrating for, but the rest of the school loves Sirius as well as you, so I reckon only a few people even noticed you'd left once he started chugging butterbeer."

Olivia snorted, trying not to twitch in pain as she made her way back into the dormitory with her towel wrapped around her body. Lily followed her.

"Livia, are you in pain?" Lily asked softly. "Is that why you left early?"

"Yeah," Olivia muttered, tears filling her eyes. "Pretty pathetic, isn't it? I can't even last through my own birthday party because I hurt too much. I'm a wreck."

"It's sad, certainly," Lily conceded, "but I wouldn't say pathetic. You've been hurt badly and magic can't take it away. Have you tried the Muggle painkillers?"

"Once," she said. "For aches and pains from Muggle accidents it's all right, but curses it doesn't do much for, and my father doesn't want me taking them. He's worried I'll get addicted."

"I can understand that," Lily said reasonably, although her expression was still mournful. "One has to be careful with medications. Are you very tired?"

"Exhausted," Olivia moaned.

"You should probably try going to sleep, then," Lily whispered. "C'mon."

Olivia found herself a nightgown and changed behind her curtains, tossing the towel to the floor, where she knew either Lily or the house-elves would deal with it.

Then she curled up on her side, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep, but nothing helped.

"Lily," she moaned, "It hurts."

Lily opened the curtains around the bed and frowned slightly. She dug around her bag for a book, flipped through the pages, and found whatever she was looking for, reading the little passage several times, looking up at Olivia, then reading it a few more times before nodding sharply.

"Right," she said, "this is a Heating Charm. I'm going to cast it on your sheets and it should last long enough to get you asleep by soothing your muscles. That's all that hurts still, right?"

Olivia nodded.

Lily cast the charm and the sheets were as warm as the shower had been, pulsing heat into Olivia's aching muscles, and Olivia moaned happily.

"That's so much better," Olivia sighed. "Thanks, Lily."

"Of course," Lily said softly, closing the curtains again. "Good night, Livia."

"Night, Lily," she sighed.

It took a while before Olivia could finally fall asleep, but when she did she dreamed about the party, and Sirius standing up and announcing that he'd found a cure for her pain and that she was never going to feel pain again.

She awoke in the middle of the night, however, when the Heating Charm wore off and the aching in her muscles came back full force. With a sigh, she sat up, wincing, contemplating whether or not to wake up Lily and ask her to repeat the Charm.

But it was three in the morning, and Olivia couldn't bring herself to wake up her friend at such an hour, so she pulled on her dressing gown and went to the boys' dormitory. Quietly as possible, she tiptoed over to Remus's bed and opened the curtain slightly. He looked so peaceful when he slept.

She crawled into bed beside him, reveling in the warmth that was his naturally elevated body heat. It wasn't quite as good as the heating charm, but it was nearly as good, and she was thankful that she didn't wake him as he wrapped his arms instinctively around her when she curled up against him, nuzzling her with his nose as he continued to sleep peacefully.

Olivia watched him sleep for a while as she began to fall back asleep herself, thinking of how little she got to see him in such a vulnerable position. Typically, he watched her while she slept, staying up until she fell asleep or waking up early to watch her wake up. It was a pleasant change of things, watching him instead. That was her last thought as she fell asleep.

When she awoke in the morning, Olivia found herself being watched by a very puzzled Remus.

"When did you get here?" he whispered. "You weren't here when I fell asleep, were you? I think I ought to have remembered something like that."

"No I came in while you were sleeping," she admitted. "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep."

He frowned a little.

"Because of the pain?" he whispered, smoothing her hair back from her face. Hesitantly, Olivia nodded and Remus sighed. "I wish I could make it better, love."

"You do," she said with a smile. "It's better when you're holding me. Your body heat…"

He raised his eyebrows with surprise.

"Really? Well, I suppose that's something." He nuzzled his nose into her hair and whispered, "I wish, then, that I never had to let go of you for anything, but I wished that anyway. Now I wish it more."

Olivia smiled in spite of herself. She loved when he was saying things about his affection out loud.

"Well," she sighed, "unfortunately that's not a possibility, nice as it sounds. Would you like to do some homework? I've got to finish Sirius's Charms essay and I've barely started my Transfiguration assignment."

Remus nodded, but they stayed in his bed for quite a while, holding each other, simply basking in each other's presence. Finally, Olivia said, "Why haven't we moved?"

"Because we're comfortable," Remus suggested weakly.

And then Olivia realized that he was worried that if he did let go of her, she would be in pain again.

"Come on, Remus," she sighed, breaking out of his hold and ignoring the throbbing that was slowly returning to her muscles. "We have things we have to do today. We can't just lie abed."

Reluctantly he took her hand and allowed her to lead him over to the little alcove they'd set up in the corner for study, with their books and papers and quills all ready for them. The other boys were waking up, changing, although respectfully with their curtains closed, as they knew that Olivia was often in the room and they were more or less in the habit of compensating for her presence.

"Morning, Livia," James said, stretching. "Homework I see. Who's doing mine?"

"I am," Remus said, brushing the feather of his quill thoughtfully over his lips.

"I'd like a really good mark on this one, Remus," James said cheerfully. "I really did a great job in class, so I think McGonagall expects it of me."

"McGonagall expects nothing of you but mayhem, paperwork, and a massive headache," Olivia said casually as she scribbled down the last paragraph of Sirius's essay. "Well, maybe a few goals a game in Quidditch. I'd say that's about the only positive things she can reasonably expect of you."

James stuck out his tongue and said, "When I'm Quidditch Captain, you're doing extra laps, Cromwell!"

Olivia snorted.

"Who would ever put you in charge of something? McGonagall would have to go completely mad before that ever happens. Anyway, Bakester said you have to be nice to me."

"Bakester won't be around when I'm captain, that's the point," James sighed. "And he only said that because I retaliated for you purposefully hitting Bludgers at me during practice!"

"I was supposed to be hitting Bludgers at you, you moron!" Olivia cried, frustrated. "It's not my fault you didn't listen when he said as much in the locker room!"

Remus rolled his eyes and James threw a pillow in their direction. Olivia tried not to wince when she lifted her arms to catch it, but she knew Remus had noticed her discomfort.

"James, leave Livia alone, please, she's still in recovery," Remus said in a tone that suggested that he'd recommended James wear his blue socks that day. James frowned, confused.

"But I thought she was fine. That's why Bakester let her back in to Quidditch practice, because she was totally… oh, right, if she wasn't he wouldn't let her in so she lied. Got it."

This time, Olivia rolled her eyes as James paused, then said, "Wait, if you're not better… I don't understand, does this mean you're still in pain?"

Olivia groaned. Ignoring her aching muscles she picked up the pillow he had thrown at her and chucked it vigorously at his head, which he ducked deftly, eyes wide with surprise.

"What was that for?"

"It's for you being an idiot!" she hissed. "I'm sick of you being daft. I'm frustrated and tired and I hurt everywhere and I don't want to deal with you right now. Remus, Sirius's essay is finished. I'll do mine later. I'm not feeling up to it right now."

Olivia felt as though she had been a bit dramatic, but she didn't have the ability to swallow her pride long enough to go back up and apologize. Besides, Remus was probably in the middle of attempting to explain to James what he had done wrong, and apologizing in the middle of that wouldn't help him learn any sort of lesson about his actions, which had been far from perfect in the matter.

Why couldn't boys just understand?


	35. Unexpected

**January, 1979**

Olivia was shivering. The ways of Caradoc's life were difficult, but it mattered less to her than to people who didn't live in a constant state of discomfort. Still, she hadn't been prepared for quite how cold it was going to be in Scotland without regular and proper heat. And what was more, they didn't use magic unless absolutely for fear of being discovered. One never knew where detection or Death Eaters were lying in wait. The last thing Olivia wanted was to be captured again, especially with her already ridiculously high rate of being captured by Voldemort.

"Did you get the potion?" she whispered, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.

Caradoc had been meeting with Moody to get a potion for her… Polyjuice Potion, in an attempt to decrease the likelihood of capture. He nodded that he had it, then pulled out a flask, put in the hairs the had collected on their excursion in Muggle London, and the potion simmered a blue color that looked like it was trying to become turquoise.

She took the flask and drank down the unfavorable potion, trying not to gag, trying to ignore the pain of transformation added to her typical dull ache.

"How do I look?" she moaned.

"Completely not like yourself," Caradoc said happily. "How do you feel?"

"Like I want to kill whoever invented this stuff but neglected to make it so it didn't feel like your insides were turning into your outsides," Olivia hissed. "Now let's just get the job done and call it good, all right? I'm not interested in just sitting around and waiting for it to wear off, now let's get to it!"

"Right," he said quickly, doing some quick and hard-to-trace transfiguration to his own face to hide his already not-so-recognizable features. "Let's go."

The two of them Apparated to Diagon Alley, heading toward Knockturn Alley. When Olivia heard a bark-like laugh, she grasped Caradoc's arm and froze.

There, in the crowd of shoppers, was Sirius, laughing with James and Remus about something. Caradoc saw him too and whispered in her ear, "Relax, he doesn't recognize you, remember?"

She nodded, feeling guilt creep into her stomach. She was going to walk right past him and he wasn't ever going to know they were both there on that day. She could never tell him, because she could never, ever talk about her mission.

"Come on," he whispered.

Olivia nodded, following Caradoc out of the area, away from the barking laughter of her sweet Sirius, toward the chillingly disgusting world of Knockturn Alley.

"Take my arm," he prompted her, and Olivia did so quickly, simpering just as she'd practiced, trying to look like the wife of a man just following him as he did his shopping. Nobody paid attention to the wives, which was usually the biggest mistake the men could make.

At least, nobody paid attention to the wives in respect to business. Any woman with half-clean robes was given a once-over in Knockturn Alley, at the least. She tried to ignore the stares of disgusting and deranged men, trying to catch her eye and not anger her supposed husband at the same time. When she spotted Yaxley in the door of the very shop they needed, however, Olivia very obviously flinched, causing Caradoc to squeeze her hand reassuringly. The last thing she wanted was for Yaxley to be hanging around. He had followed her too long, he knew her very action too well... If anyone could see through the disguise of even Polyjuice in her case, it would be Yaxley or Sirius. Sirius wasn't a danger to their mission, exactly, but Yaxley was horribly dangerous.

She took a steadying breath and she and Caradoc walked into the shop as confidently as could be expected.

"Mr. Borgin," he said haughtily.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Spaulding," the shopkeeper said smoothly, like oil sliding over a glass goblet. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm interested in buying my wife a gift," Caradoc said, ignoring the fact that Yaxley had entered the shop, watching them without any sort of pretext.

"I see," the man said, looking Olivia up and down quickly before bustling around, bringing out all sorts of expensive jewelry. "What exactly did you have in mind, sir?"

"Oh, something with a story, I think," Caradoc drawled, tightening his grip on Olivia as Yaxley passed rather close behind them, not even bothering to look at the things in the shop as he did so, not even pretending he was there on some sort of business and Borgin either didn't notice or didn't particularly care. "She loves items with a history."

They didn't know exactly what they were looking for. Albus had just told them that it would probably have belonged to one of the founders.

They listened to Borgin go on and on about the various stories of several pieces, however, and none of them remotely matched the descriptions Albus had told them to watch out for. When Borgin finally finished his story telling and asked Caradoc what he thought, Olivia said in her best pure-blood voice, "Darling, this has been a bore. Perhaps we ought to try some other shop."

Borgin frowned at her slightly, but then began praising the lady for her excellent and impeccable taste, saying that if they only gave him a moment he was sure to have something in the back that might interest her. The way Olivia squeezed Caradoc's hand, though, was a cue that they were done in the shop. She didn't want to be anywhere near Yaxley. He was making her increasingly uneasy.

"We actually have an engagement elsewhere, I'm afraid, Borgin," Caradoc said, "but we should be back again soon. That ought to give you plenty of time to search for something more interesting, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed, Mr. Spaulding," Borgin said greasily. "I will certainly do some proper searching for your wife. Have a pleasant day."

"I certainly hope to," Caradoc said stuffily, leading Olivia back out of the shop.

Olivia was acutely aware as they walked down the street, however, that they were being followed, and she knew exactly who it was, feeling absolutely panicked as they quickened their pace.

"Can't we Disapparate here?" she hissed at Caradoc, but he shook his head almost imperceptibly. It was too much of a give-away. They wouldn't be able to use those disguises again, and Yaxley could have a hundred reasons to be following them.

But he only had one, and Olivia knew it instinctively. Sure, Yaxley had been ordered to capture Caradoc, as had everyone else, but Yaxley wanted Olivia more than anything else.

She felt herself freezing, and Caradoc beside her, as she turned the corner, and Yaxley caught up with her, none other than Lucius Malfoy at his side.

"Well," Lucius said, frowning at the frozen pair, getting out his wand. "It seems that you've caught someone at the very least. I can't see how this is Cromwell, but you would know better than I on that account. As for Dearborn..."

Lucius waved his wand and wiped away Caradoc's transfigured changes to his appearance. Malfoy's cold lip curled into a sickening grin.

"Well, hello again, Dearborn," he said. "You're right, she's probably Cromwell. The Dark Lord will be very, very pleased. We'd better get it out of them properly this time."

Yaxley gripped Olivia's frozen arm and she saw Lucius grab Caradoc as she felt a twisting, squeezing sensation of Apparition and she found herself at a grand, unfamiliar manor house.

Malfoy Manor, she decided it must be when they were dragged through the house. She spotted Sirius's cousin, Narcissa, peaking out at them from a hallway and Olivia wanted to cry out to her, but it wouldn't have made a difference.

She wouldn't have helped them if she could.

And of course, she couldn't. Olivia and Caradoc were dragged down to the cellar, which was dank, dark, and probably completely impenetrable magically. One would have to know where they were, get into the house, and then find the cellar within the house. They couldn't just Apparate in and rescue them. But no one knew where they were, and what would happen in the meantime to them... to Caradoc? To Olivia, who was being leered at as the Polyjuice Potion wore off by a triumphant Yaxley, who seemed to think he'd won her for good this time.

"There's that beautiful face," Yaxley hissed. "I told you, Lucius. I told you it was her."

"I will alert the Dark Lord immediately," Lucius drawled. "In the meantime, you know your instructions, Yaxley. Don't be too distracted by her pretty face. Caradoc has some unfinished business with us, I think."

Caradoc didn't even struggle, but Olivia wished he would have. With any luck they might have given him some sort of pain to focus on, something to distract him while they were torturing him. She found having a base pain could make even the worst things feel so much less painful.

With a sneer, Yaxley ran his fingertips along Olivia's jawline, sending jolts of pain with every feather-light touch, because she already had the baseline of pain ready. When she winced, he smirked and led her over to be chained to the wall where she was told to sit and wait like a good girl while the Dark Lord was busy.

She was going to see him again, she realized. Olivia trembled with fear at the very thought of having to face Voldemort again, but she waited until Yaxley and Lucius had dragged Caradoc out of the room to do it. She wasn't going to let them see her fear. She wasn't going to bend do Voldemort's amusement. She wasn't going to bend to Yaxley's will.

Olivia could feel the air thick and cold around her, but not as cold as the air in Scotland. She figured they must be somewhere in the south of England. Nearly all old pureblooded manors were in the south, with milder seasons. Rich people could just decide things like that, living where the weather was best. She tried not to think of what might be happening somewhere above her, but the screams floating down into the cellar gave her a pretty good idea.

It was going to be all right, Olivia lied to herself. Everything was going to be fine. She wasn't pregnant yet, so she couldn't die.

But that didn't mean that they couldn't get her pregnant rather quickly if they were able to keep her in the Malfoy cellar. She was sure that Voldemort could find some sort of spell to induce fertility in her womb, to all but ensure that the Death Eater of his choice would be able to impregnate her with ease, virtually on command.

No, Olivia told herself firmly. They would find out a way to rescue her, to rescue her and Caradoc. There would be a way to get them out before that happened. Which meant that she would have to get out quickly.

There was a sound like slithering outside the door to the cellar, and since Caradoc was still screaming in pain, Olivia guessed that this couldn't be a good thing for her at all. The door swung open and the familiar, disgusting face of Voldemort was coming toward her in the near-darkness.

"Hello, Olivia," he said in his cold, clear, high-pitched voice. "I see you're not tiring yourself out with pointless escape efforts. Wise, but then, you always were a clever one. In fact, you only seemed at your least intelligent where that boy was concerned, but he's not here now. Just you and me."

"And you're just going to hand me over to Yaxley," Olivia hissed. "You're just going to leave me at his mercy until he impregnates me. What then? What happens to Yaxley once I'm with child and he's no longer needed? I know you wouldn't let either of us raise the child, and you'd have to kill me to wrest my daughter from me. Do you really think Yaxley wouldn't fight to keep his child, _our_ child, no matter how much I despise him?"

"Yes," Voldemort said with a humorless laugh. "Yes, you always were entirely too clever. But you are forgetting that I have a lot of friends here more than happy to take the fight out of Yaxley should he be so... sentimental."

It had been worth a try, and although Olivia knew she wasn't going to get anywhere she was on a roll and she had to keep him talking. Somehow it seemed important to keep him talking.

"You don't have friends," she spat. "You have minions."

"Semantics," Voldemort said with a thin sort of smirk. "The fact is, my dear Olivia Cromwell, you have nowhere to go, and Yaxley is more than desperate enough to my bidding in this matter. You see, my dear, when you promise someone something and they've spent years nursing and growing a desire for that thing, it's very easy for them to overlook the finer points of the bargain."

Olivia shivered, knowing it was true. Yaxley might regret being used at some point, but not until it was too late.

"They're going to find me, you know," she hissed. "They're going to find me, and you're not going to get a chance."

"Oh, but Yaxley should have you pregnant by the end of the night," Voldemort breathed at her. "Even if they find you, there's not a way for them to organize quickly enough to effectively rescue you."

He must have some way to ensure her fertility for a certain time, Olivia realized. It was the only logical answer, the only way he could be so sure of himself. Her eyes were wide with fear, she knew, as she stared at his snake-like face.

Voldemort was right, it seemed. There was no way out, and even if she could tell Sirius right then and there how to find her, there was no way the Order could save her in time. Olivia was beginning to panic internally and she could feel the hyperventilating building up inside of her, but she refused to let Voldemort see her panic, to see her cry.

He knew, though, even without Legilimency. The way his thin, barely-there lips curled as the panic rose ever-higher within her, he knew that she knew she was completely trapped.

"I hope you enjoy the time you have left, Olivia Cromwell," he said in his high, cold, cruel voice. "You've only got about nine months."

Olivia knew her eyes were wide and her fear would have been visible to anyone at that point. She supposed it didn't matter anymore. She was going to stay there until she died, or she was going to be fought over by the two factions until she died, but she would be pregnant with Yaxley's child all the while.

And Sirius... Sirius would never understand. She would have to explain... Well, if she got out alive she would have to explain.

There were footsteps that Olivia was barely aware of in her panic, and she looked over at the stairwell, expecting to see Yaxley coming for her, but was surprised to see Regulus Black.

"My Lord," he said, bowing slightly to Voldemort, not even looking at Olivia, as he often had in school when he was talking to Yaxley or Lucius, or even Sirius. "I'm afraid Yaxley will not be ready to go forward with the plan tonight. He was... injured during the interrogation."

Olivia's heart leapt and the growing panic froze in its tracks.

"Which is precisely why I told him to leave it to Lucius," Voldemort said impatiently. "Very well, we'll see to his... injuries, and deal with the task at hand tomorrow. I shall see that Caradoc Dearborn suffers for his insolence."

Voldemort turned and left, strolling out of the cellar and leaving Regulus and Olivia alone. As soon as Voldemort's retreating form no longer made any sound they could hear, Regulus turned to Olivia and whispered, "Is he okay?"

"I-I'm sorry?" she gasped, still trying to understand what was going on.

"Sirius. Is he okay?" Regulus demanded.

"Um, I guess so," Olivia said softly, with a shrug. "As well as anyone can be in times like this."

Regulus gave a sort of tight smile and said, "He would be. He just would be." He looked down at the ground between them for a moment before he looked her in the eye and whispered, "I made a mistake, Livia. You have to believe me, I realize now that I made a huge mistake."

Olivia nodded, wondering if he could possibly mean what she thought he meant.

"Okay," she said slowly. "I don't really understand..."

"I can't take it back now," he said urgently, but softly. "But I can do things to try to atone, to try to set it right."

"Black..."

"Regulus, please," he whispered. "Do you think you two will marry?"

Olivia sighed, looking down at her knees.

"You know, Regulus. You know what I am, what my fate is. I couldn't do that to him. I shouldn't."

"He loves you, you know," he said softly. "I think you should tread carefully, whatever you do."

Olivia smiled slightly, looking up at his dark face and saying, "Well, I'll keep that in mind, but all the advice in the world won't matter because I'm not getting out of here."

Regulus gave a humorless chuckle at that.

"Now that doesn't sound like the Olivia Cromwell Sirius used to talk about in his sleep. Don't give up so easily."

"I can't get out of here," Olivia said firmly. "Yaxley will be better tomorrow, and Sirius can't save me in time!"

Regulus shrugged, reaching forward with a tentative hand and petting her dark hair once, gently.

"Maybe those things are true right now," he said, "but nothing's guaranteed. You just leave it to me, okay? I owe him that much. I owe him what time he has left with you."

And before Olivia could answer him or even understand what Regulus Black was saying, he was gone, and she was alone in the cellar.


	36. Fair's Fair and Nice is Nice

**December, 1972**

Remus watched as Olivia nibbled on her fingernail. She was thinking deeply about something, he knew. She wasn't really better, and he'd see her wincing in pain from time to time, but she pretended that everything was fine, which she was getting disturbingly good at. She sat there, nibbling on her fingernail, ignoring James and Sirius as they threw snow balls at each other, ignoring Peter as he giggled with delight at the antics of the inseparable pair, even ignoring Remus as he tried to read over her shoulder, more to be close to her than because he had any interest in the history of Greek wizards.

"Remus, please," she moaned, swatting absently at him like he was a fly. "I promised Professor Mackenzie that I'd return this book to her before we went on break and I'm running out of time."

"Livia, I'm sure she wouldn't mind extending that for you," he said gently. "She's knows you're not going to ruin it or try to keep it or something."

Olivia sighed, marking the book, snapping it closed, and turning to him with one of her better fake smiles.

"You're right, Remus," she lied. "It's fine. Let's just talk about Christmas, shall we?"

"I wish you wouldn't do that," he muttered, more to himself than to her.

"What?" she asked, challengingly, not as though she didn't know what was going on.

"Nothing, love," he whispered. Remus leaned forward and kissed her hair, noticing that she winced slightly.

He wanted her to stop lying to him. He wanted her to stop toying with him. He wanted her to just be happy, but that seemed to be a lot to ask for some reason because everything he tried wasn't enough. Sirius could make her smile. Even James sometimes made her smile a real smile, but Remus had to work so hard for such pittance as results. It was like he'd barely had her any time at all and she was already slipping out of his grasp.

Thinking about the truth of those thoughts must have made him look utterly pathetic, because Olivia's face softened into a look of pity and she pressed her lips gently to his, making his head spin pleasantly.

"I'm sorry, Remus," she whispered. "I'm sorry I've been cross lately. I'm just very tired of this... of... Well, anyway, I'm sorry, okay? I haven't meant to be cross with you. I care about you a lot, Remus."

It wasn't as much as he wanted, but Remus knew he was so lucky that he didn't complain as she pressed her lips to his again, making his head spin deliciously once more.

It was that spinning that led him to be a bit disoriented and confused, even as the snowball smacked the two of them in their faces and Olivia jerked back, glaring at James and Sirius.

"You two!" she called. "You're so busted!"

Sirius yelped in fear and James laughed as the two took off running and Olivia scrambled to her feet, taking off after them at full speed.

"Livia, wait!" cried Remus, trying to take off after her, but she was too quick. "Livia, you're not dressed for the weather!"

But she was too far ahead, too far gone to hear him. She was off with Sirius and James, throwing her whole body weight at Sirius and knocking his scrawny form to the snow.

That was Olivia, Remus thought, watching solemnly. She was always ahead of him, always with James and Sirius where she belonged, and Remus always got left behind, forgotten.

She would call him silly. Olivia had a habit of doing that. She liked to think Remus was being silly when he knew he was being perfectly practical. He was a monster, but she didn't want him to think of himself that way, and called him silly when he spoke of himself in that way. He would say something about how she deserved a dozen friends like James and Sirius, pureblooded, rich, and normal like her, but she would say he was being silly, that he was perfectly normal, and who needed their friends to be rich and pureblooded, anyway?

She liked to think that such things didn't matter, but Remus knew they did. Someday, when Olivia was thinking about things like who she was going to marry and have children with, things like blood status and wealth would become vastly important whether she wanted them to or not, because Remus could never have children and he should never marry the richest witch in the world, which Olivia would be when her father died. Remus would never fit into that world, her world.

But he liked to think he belonged with her, if only because holding her hand and kissing her lips felt so perfectly right. Maybe Sirius or James was a better fit, but Remus would never just hand her over to them because he didn't want to lose her, not yet, selfish though it was. He was never going to be able to marry her, to be with her forever, but he could at least try to fool himself into believing he could, and maybe for a little while he could just enjoy what they did have together instead of think about what they could never really have.

He wasn't silly. Remus was adamant that he wasn't silly, no matter what Olivia said.

"She'll be fine," Peter squeaked at Remus, who was still watching as Sirius turned Olivia over in the snow and was rubbing the cold snow into her cheeks teasingly. "They'll warm her up and dry her off when we get her upstairs and the girls will take care of her."

Remus winced. He didn't want the girls to take care of her, he wanted to take care of her. But Peter was right. Olivia would be fine. Even when she was the furthest thing from fine, the girl was always somehow 'fine', and this snow would be no exception.

He sighed and watched the trio head toward them, which meant she'd started shivering or changing blue or something like that and James and Sirius were making her go in.

She could be so foolish sometimes.

Remus watched Olivia as she finally agreed to put on Sirius's sweater, the large, green, soft contraption that matched her eyes perfectly, a Black family sweater, of all things, and the only sweater she ever consented to wearing because she said it didn't itch like the others.

At least, that was what she said, but Remus had caught her wearing it to bed, had seen her smelling it when she thought no one was looking. He knew she liked the smell of Sirius, and he'd even thought of wearing Sirius's soap from time to time, just to see if it would make her like Remus even more, but his fear of their reaction to him doing it was even greater than his desire to have her sniff him like she sniffed that worn-down sweater that she liked to sleep in.

As she shivered in the sweater by the roaring Gryffindor fireplace, however, wearing Sirius's soap was just about the last thing on Remus's mind. He was sure she'd made herself sick.

"Sorry, Livia," Sirius said as he adjusted the sleeve of the sweater, looking sheepish as James was forcing her to drink a little bit of firewhiskey to warm herself up. "I wasn't thinking. I was just so angry that you caught me, that you got me all wet and cold and I reacted. I'm so sorry."

"You should be," Remus muttered. "You never think. You never think about anyone but yourself."

"That's not true, Remus," Olivia said gently, placing one hand in Remus's, the other on Sirius's arm. "Sirius is very caring and generous and you know it."

Remus did know it, but she was so pale, her lips so light, that he couldn't help but be angry in general, and Sirius felt like the logical one to direct his anger at, since he'd been the one _rubbing snow into her cheeks_, as if that were ever a good idea.

"Sorry, I'm just upset," Remus said, although he would refuse to say he didn't mean it. He wasn't sure whether or not he meant it yet, and he wasn't going to commit either way until he knew for certain.

"You're looking better," Peter squeaked from the armchair beside them.

"You're right, Peter," Olivia said firmly. "I'm feeling much better. I'll see you all later. Good night, boys."

She had hurried up away upstairs before any of them could point out that it was still late afternoon and she'd yet to have dinner.

"Do you think she's going to come down?" James asked softly as Lily and Mary and Margery came downstairs, obviously on their own way to dinner.

"Dunno," Sirius said slowly. "I've never known her to miss a meal, but that was weird..."

"Yeah," the four boys said together, and Remus shivered slightly.

Olivia wasn't his, he realized in that moment. He would always have to share her with the group. He would always have to share her with Sirius.

/-/

She sat in the common room as soon as she knew they'd all left for dinner. She'd be back in her bed by the time anyone headed back from dinner... More specifically before the Marauders were back from dinner, and that would be just fine. The fireplace felt good, though, so she hurried back down when she was sure they were sitting in the Great Hall, eating.

Olivia would have liked to have been eating, but she couldn't bear the shame and she had so much to think over.

It wasn't that she was mad at any of them, exactly, but there had been so much smothering. It was probably a good thing that she wasn't staying with any of them for Christmas. The group was going to James's house, but she'd accepted an invitation to spend the holidays with Lily's family, so she was going there with Mary instead. Margery's family was spending the holiday in Spain, so she wouldn't be joining them, but the three girls were determined to have enough fun for four.

Time away from the Marauders would probably be good for her, Olivia knew, but she would miss the boys almost as much as she would miss her sister, who she hardly saw at all. Anne-Claire spent most of her time with the Ravenclaws and she didn't seem to think much of the Marauders, except for James, surprisingly, but that probably had to do with the fact that all the silly girls her age thought he was so special for his Quidditch skills.

Quidditch... That was another place she couldn't really escape her Marauder-ness. James practically dragged the boys to watch them practice, and Mary could never have convinced the girls to watch.

It wasn't that Olivia regretted being a part of the Marauders. She couldn't imagine life without the boys, without Sirius, Remus, James... even Peter! But sometimes she felt as though she were being suffocated, cut off. She saw the twins a fair amount because of Sirius and Jiki (although not as much as she thought she ought to have), but the girls in her own House she really only saw in classes and during her morning and nighttime routines. Lily and Mary still gossiped with her and seemed to care about her. Lily still sat with her at Slughorn's meetings. But it wasn't as much as she wanted.

She hurt all the time, she could hardly concentrate on school much less her social life, but she had to because she didn't want anyone to think that everything was anything but fine. Because everything was fine. It was. Even though nothing was fine, she was going to convince everyone (including herself) that everything was fine.

There was the sound of giggling approaching and Olivia knew instinctively that it was Lily, Mary and Margery, so she scurried upstairs to their dormitory so that they didn't see her sitting by the fire.

By the time the girls had returned to the dormitory, Olivia was changed and lying under her covers, staring at the ceiling, looking as though she were waiting, which she was in her own way.

"Hey, Livia," Mary said gently, sitting down on the foot of Olivia's bed. "Are you feeling any better? Hungry, maybe?"

Olivia shook her head, thankful that her stomach wasn't growling and calling her bluff for all of them to know.

"I'm just tired," Olivia said softly. "I'll be better in the morning."

Mary nodded.

"Sometimes, when I play out in the snow, I get tired too, but it might be because you're getting sick, Livia. I know Sirius didn't mean to make you sick-"

Lily snorted.

"-but I think you should see Madam Pomfrey tomorrow anyway, just in case."

Olivia pouted her best, but the girls were unmoved.

"Remus will take care of me," she finally said with a shrug. "I won't go unless he makes me go."

Except Olivia knew perfectly well that if Remus demanded she go, she could always kiss him until he withdrew the demand. Yes, she was using him, but she wasn't really hurting him, just herself, and what was really wrong with that?

The girls seemed satisfied with the suggestion, though, which was exactly what Olivia had wanted, and Lily sat down on the bed, too, as Margery took off to take a shower.

"My mum's going to make ham this year for Christmas," Lily said happily. "I told her you didn't care much for turkey, Livia, and she decided change was a good thing. At least, that's what she said. I don't think Tuney's going to be very pleased. She doesn't care much for ham."

Olivia did feel a bit guilty about that, forcing Petunia to eat something she didn't like. After all, she was the guest.

But Olivia had been getting her way whether she was the guest or the host by convincing people that whichever she was ought to have what they wanted. It worked every time, mostly because she was able to talk just about everyone she knew into circles. Everyone, it seemed, except for her father, who had admonished her when she was about nine for playing such games, for being so selfish, when it wasn't even a challenge for her. She had felt guilty about it for a long while, and she hadn't taken up her ways again until she started school, when she had to. It was a way of saving face, of getting what she wanted even when it wasn't what was good for her. And dating Remus... It wasn't the only reason she was dating him, obviously, but it made getting what she wanted that much easier than it had been. Remus was in the palm of her hand, unlike Sirius. It was about what she wanted, not what she needed, and Olivia liked the world better that way.

As the other girls went to bed Olivia sat up and wondered what northern England looked like. She wondered if Mr. Evans was anything like her father or Mr. Potter, if Mrs. Evans was anything like Mrs. Potter. She'd already decided that Petunia was an awful lot like an older, bitterer version of Anne-Claire. Of course, she never said that out loud when Lily was around, but Mary had agreed when they were whispering alone together about what it would be like with the Evans family over the holidays. They'd been so excited they couldn't help but speculate together when they ought to have been studying.

Olivia turned onto her side to try to avoid thinking about some of the pain that had begun throbbing more insistently in her back. How could she explain to the Evans's about her pain issues? Had Lily mentioned it? What must they think of her if she had? Olivia decided that she could do nothing about that. If she'd mentioned the dislike of turkey, Lily would have surely mentioned her various medical concerns and the like. Lily was responsible like that, and almost annoyingly thorough when she had any sort of responsibility.

In her mind as she was trying to get to sleep, Olivia ran through a packing plan for the holidays. She'd not bought any presents yet, wanting to buy something for the boys from where Evans lived, partly because she thought it would make James burst with joy and partly because if she wasn't anywhere near them when she bought their Christmas gifts, they were much more likely to be surprised by the gifts they would get. That, and Mary was so good at helping pick out gifts that it would be foolish to waste such a wonderfully valuable resource.

She could hear Margery starting to snore, which must have been something she'd picked up over the break. Or maybe she was getting sick, too. Olivia wondered vaguely if she would start snoring while she was sick, or if her nose wasn't the right shape for it. Just to be safe, she decided not to sleep in Remus's bed while she was sick, even if she wasn't contagious. She didn't want the boys to know if she was snoring. It wasn't like any of the girls would dare tell on her. She'd never told on Margery. None of them had.

In the morning, Olivia would sneak in to see Madam Pomfrey perhaps, if she was feeling worse, but not so that any of her friends could find out about it. She didn't want them worrying about her, especially because she would be out of their sight all holiday. She wanted them to enjoy their time together without her, not worry about her the whole time.

She let her eyes flutter closed and she dreamed of Remus's warm arms taking away her cold, his warmer-than-normal body chasing away the sickness and making her feel all better. Remus was so good at that, making things all better.


	37. Safe and Sound

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my new and fabulous reader, Lizaluvsdoggies, who has reviewed, among other stories, this one, and seems to really enjoy my work! Thank you Lizaluvsdoggies. Your reviews are appreciated!**

** -J**

**January, 1979**

Olivia wasn't sure when they put Caradoc back in the cellar with her, but he was beside her when she woke up. He was bloody and bruised, but better than she would have expected.

"You're awake," he said hoarsely.

He'd been yelling, she supposed. In pain.

"Yes," she whispered, slightly ashamed that she hadn't been tortured as he had.

But then, she would have been tortured in a different way.

"I don't know why they stopped," he groaned. "I didn't tell them what they wanted. I thought they were going to kill me, or hurt you. They've not hurt you, have they? Sirius would kill me himself."

"He wouldn't," Olivia said, although she knew he'd want to. But if he himself couldn't keep Olivia from being hurt and captured he couldn't expect any better from Caradoc, and she would remind him of that.

If they made it out alive.

"Whatever you say, princess," Caradoc sighed. "I did promise, though. I feel terrible. Why did Dumbledore even put you on this mission?"

"I don't know," Olivia sighed. "I guess I've got to do missions sometime."

"Yes, but this one?" Caradoc groaned. "I mean, no offense, but you _always_ get captured.

"Not always!" Olivia insisted indignantly.

"Really?" Caradoc snorted. "Name one time you weren't captured on an Order mission."

Olivia pursed her lips, thinking.

There had to be a time, just one time, when she'd done what she was supposed to do, finished the mission, and wasn't captured. There had to be. He couldn't be right. She couldn't be that big of a liability.

But there wasn't one.

"All right, fine, you win," she snapped. "Small victory, though. We're still locked in a cellar in a Death Eater's home."

"Yeah," Caradoc said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she sighed. "I shouldn't have said that. That was me being bitter about you being right. You shouldn't have just taken it. Sirius would have-"

"Sirius would have told you that you were right and begged your forgiveness," said the voice of Regulus Black, moving toward them in the darkness. He must have come into the cellar when they were talking. She hadn't thought he'd been so stealthy when they were young.

"Regulus," she said softly. "What are you doing here?"

Could he really have arranged it so soon? Were they really getting out, going home? She wanted to hold Sirius so badly that she didn't care if she was being silly and optimistic. She just wanted to be out of there before Yaxley had a chance to get what he wanted.

"I've been sent to see to Dearborn's injuries," Regulus said softly. "I apologize, I'm no Healer, but they want you relatively close to normal before starting in again tomorrow."

"I'll bet they do," Caradoc grumbled bitterly.

Regulus lit is wand and settled in front of Caradoc, slowly looking over his injuries.

"Anything internal?" Regulus asked.

"I don't know," Caradoc shrugged. "They broke a few of my fingers. I guess that counts as internal. But as far as organs, as far as I know they're all doing fine. I haven't bled to death on the inside, if that counts for anything."

"I suppose it does," Regulus muttered. "Olivia, tell me, how's Sirius been sleeping?"

"Pretty well," Olivia said slowly. "Better than when we were in school."

In school he'd had nightmares of his mother hurting him, hurting her.

Regulus nodded, waving his wand to set Caradoc's fingers straight again. Caradoc sighed with relief, flexing his fingers as Regulus pulled out a salve and began on the bruises.

"What about money? You're still all right with what Alphard left him?"

Olivia snorted.

"Regulus, you know I'm going to be the richest witch in the wizarding world when my father passes, right?"

"If you live that long," he said darkly, and she knew he was probably right. She would probably die before her father did, but she wasn't having that conversation in front of Caradoc.

"We're all set for gold, though," she sighed. "Thanks for asking."

"And the house?" he pressed, obviously trying to buy time for something. Could he really be getting them out so early, or was he just looking for something to occupy his mind while he rubbed salve on Caradoc's hurts?

The bruises were beginning to fade and he took out a paste for the cuts, some of which would certainly scar, Olivia knew, from how deep they'd gone. She didn't know what that paste was called, but Madam Pomfrey had used it on her a time or two and it hadn't taken care of the deepest cuts as well. She could recognize that smell anywhere.

"The house is fine," she said, almost impatiently. "We've got a leaky sink Sirius keeps promising to sort, but I swear, if I ever get out of this place it's the first thing I'm going to take care of and fuck all his promises."

"I doubt he'll let you take care of the sink first," Regulus and Caradoc intoned in unison, both rather wryly. Then they looked at each other with expressions that clearly stated that neither of them was particularly pleased with their Prewett-like unison. Olivia rolled her eyes.

Once all of the wounds were dealt with, Regulus turned to Olivia, his eyes dark. She could hardly notice in the dim light, but she'd seen Sirius's eyes darken enough in all levels of light and lack thereof, and they looked almost the same.

"I won't unchain you," he said. "That would be too obvious, and I'm not ready for such a clear break yet. But the door won't be latched. They'll find you."

"Who?" Caradoc said, suddenly interested in what Regulus Black had to say.

But there was no answer, and Sirius's brother left them alone in cold, lonely darkness once more.

/-/

Nobody knew where the information had come from or how it had gotten to them, but Remus and Sirius had both insisted that it wasn't worth risking Olivia's life and safety by not acting on it, and they had both been surprised when Albus Dumbledore agreed with them.

Remus watched an anxious Sirius shifting the grip on his wand as they stood around the gates of Malfoy Manor, all surely reviewing Mad-Eye Moody's attack plan in their heads to reassure themselves that they would get Olivia out of there safely.

And Caradoc. He couldn't forget Caradoc.

How did she always get herself into these situations? He loved her for it, but at the same time he couldn't help but be aggravated that she hadn't figured out how to keep herself safe.

He knew it wasn't fair. He knew that there was no way she'd ever stop being hunted down, no matter what. There was no way for her to be completely safe unless she went into hiding, and she was too powerful a witch to keep locked away in a safe house somewhere.

Until she got pregnant, Remus reminded himself. Then it would be too much of a risk to do anything but lock her away somewhere safe.

Best not to think about that.

All he could hope was that it wasn't already too late, that Caradoc wasn't dead, that Olivia hadn't been impregnated. Remus had asked Albus, and there were Dark spells that could ensure a pregnancy, but none that could speed it so much that she would have already given birth.

Small consolation that would be if she was pregnant with Yaxley's child. Sirius would lose it.

Remus would lose it.

The Order would be short three fit for active duty incredibly quick because she'd be locked away and Sirius and Remus would be too furious to think straight.

But that wasn't going to happen, he reminded himself as Fabian carefully began stripping away layers of protection on the gates, concentrating with beads of sweat pouring down his face so that he didn't miss something and trigger some sort of alarm.

"Damn it," Sirius hissed. "James, do something about that bloody peacock!"

Remus blinked.

Sure enough, an albino peacock was coming their way up the walkway, looking ready to pick a fight. Thankfully, it hadn't called for its master yet, but it was only a matter of time.

James waved his wand and Remus's stomach sank as he recognized the curse and the effects on the peacock: the Imperius Curse.

Yes, it was unforgivable, whatever that meant, but in wartime many things became necessary. It wasn't a human, and they would probably save lives by that one little curse.

So why did Remus feel so guilty?

It was probably because he knew he would have done something else, and likely as not Olivia would have teased him for it later. She never hesitated to use the riskier curses, much like Sirius. He'd even seen them use Dark magic in duels. Nothing too scary but... Dark.

The peacock had gone away somewhere else in the yard, and Remus finally released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Fabian nodded, lowering his wand and wiping his brow.

"We're set," he sighed. "Let's go."

Gideon carefully used his wand to unlatch the gate and push it open enough to let the six men in.

Six.

It was too few, Remus had said when they'd put together the force, but nobody else had been available.

And so it would have to be enough.

Their informant, whoever that was, had told them that there would be three Death Eaters only in the Manor. Narcissa would not involve herself.

Sirius hadn't been surprised at all by that, which was their first idea that the source might be credible.

Three Death Eaters, six Order members... And once they freed Olivia and (hopefully) Caradoc there could be no hoping what condition the pair might be in. Maybe they would be able to fight. Maybe they would need to be evacuated immediately. In the worst case, Remus could picture them having to fight three to four. Depending on the Death Eaters, that could be a grave disadvantage.

Bellatrix, for example, could easily match Sirius, who was usually worth two, and then what?

They were nearing the front doors.

The house was too big to circle, and according to the plans the source had drawn up (which Sirius said matched his memory of the place from childhood), the cellar they were being kept in would be more easily accessible by the front entrance, anyway.

They wouldn't just be let in by the front door, though. They would have to find a way to force their way in as stealthily as possible.

This was Gideon's territory, of course. He could pick locks with magical or Muggle means, whatever the job required, and he did it with such skill and grace that he could almost always get by without being noticed at all. Remus would have been disconcerted if he were Gideon's enemy, but Gideon had laughed when he'd said this once and said that the only enemies the Prewetts wore dark cloaks and put Dark Marks in the sky after they killed innocent people.

Remus had nothing to fear, he'd said.

But Remus hadn't feared, not really. It was just that there _was_ a spy, and why he didn't think it was Gideon or Fabian, he couldn't rule them out entirely.

"Got it," Gideon breathed. Remus hadn't heard the click, but he'd not really been paying attention.

But he was paying attention when Mad-Eye carefully pushed the door open, all their wands at the ready, just hoping against hope that Lucius Malfoy and whoever else was with him weren't waiting for them on the other side of that door.

The entryway was empty, but Remus knew they couldn't let their guard down, going into the building. They weren't likely to be able to just waltz in, get their people back, and get out without meeting a Death Eater in combat.

/-/

Sirius's hands were shaking as they made it through the entryway. Something was wrong. This was going too easily.

"If we come across trouble before we get to the cellar," Mad-Eye had told them when they'd been organizing the mission, "Remus and Sirius keep moving to the cellar and only fight if absolutely necessary. Fighting won't come to any good if we don't get Olivia and Caradoc out of there."

He knew that Sirius would feel torn between the fight and Olivia, and Sirius wasn't sure which he would pick, but this... This was eerie and unsettling.

They'd almost made it to the cellar when Sirius heard the creaking of floorboards above them, moving toward the stairs. From the faces of the others, they'd heard it too.

"Sirius, Remus, go!" Mad-Eye ordered, pulling out his wand.

Reluctantly, Sirius and Remus took off down into the cellar, to find that Olivia and Caradoc were working on unchaining each other.

"What?" Sirius said, confused. "What's going on?"

"We'll explain later," Olivia huffed. "Give us a hand, love. Yaxley's good for something, it seems."

Sirius rushed across the dark cellar and released them from their chains with the help of the light from Remus's wand.

"Livia!" Caradoc said, surprised. "I think he put our wands in my pocket when he was doing the bruises!"

"Bless him," Olivia sighed. "Right, let's get out of here."

Sirius could hear the fighting above them and he and Olivia exchanged nervous looks.

"How many people do you need to get you two out of here?" Remus asked. "One or two?"

"None, but I want Sirius with me," Olivia said. "They healed Caradoc a while ago so he'd be fresh for the morning... So we can Disapparate ourselves."

Sirius felt a flush of pride at her saying that she wanted him to go with her, and for a moment he almost forgot all about the fight upstairs. Then there was a sound of something collapsing and a small explosion and he looked toward the door.

"You want to stay," she said softly.

Of course he wanted to stay, but then she touched his hand and he felt that familiar electricity and he wanted nothing more than to go home and hold her for the rest of the week, to forget all about her ever not being with him.

Sirius laced his fingers in Olivia's and squeezed her hand gently.

"Maybe," he whispered, kissing her cheek softly, "but I want to spend some time with you more."

He couldn't really see in the dim light, but he got the sense that she smiled at that, and Remus had to go and spoil the warm, fuzzy feeling in Sirius's chest by bringing reality back into it.

"We're going to have to get you back to the top of the stairs, anyway, so you can Disapparate safely. I don't know where the restrictions on this room end, but I'd say that's a safe bet."

Olivia nodded, and clung to Sirius, taking Caradoc's hand in hers.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.

"Headquarters," Sirius murmured back, and she nodded.

They followed Remus out of the cellar and up the stairs as quickly as they could, and in the moment that they reached the top, Sirius could see the skirmish laid out before them.

Lucius Malfoy was there, of course, with Yaxley and Regulus. Apparently they'd sent word of the attack, though, because Sirius could see new arrivals coming in from the entryway. He could see his cousin, Bellatrix, and her husband and his brother, but that wasn't what made his blood run cold.

Sirius could see Voldemort, and their eyes locked and Sirius saw him raise his wand at Olivia.

He barely had a moment to register what was happening when Olivia turned on her heel and Disapparated the three of them away to headquarters while Remus joined the fight.

They'd landed in the front of the house they were using and Sirius managed to drag the three of them inside, noticing that Caradoc was splinched, and that Olivia was walking tenderly on her left leg, but mostly wanting to get them out of the open air.

"They're going to be okay," she muttered, more to herself than anyone around her, and Sirius was thrilled when Lily took Caradoc, ready to heal his chin, which was bleeding from the splinching, and Sirius led Olivia to a nearby sofa, where he pulled her onto his lap and was carefully slicing away the leg of her pants with a spell, trying very hard not to hurt her in the process.

"You're right," he assured her. "They're going to be fine. What's wrong with your leg, my love? Can you tell me where it hurts?"

"It's my ankle," she sighed, sucking in breath through her teeth sharply when Sirius poked it experimentally. "Twisted it wrong when I went to Disapparate. Just a tip, don't ever Disapparate when you're scared out of your mind."

"If you hadn't, you'd be dead," he said gently, fighting back tears at the thought.

She wasn't going to die. She wasn't allowed to die, not without him.

"No, I wouldn't," she muttered. "But you would be, and Caradoc I expect."

She gritted her teeth as Lily came over and poked her ankle with her wand diagnostically.

"They're not going to die," Olivia kept repeating to herself as Lily healed her ankle. "They're going to be fine. Nobody's going to die."

"That's right," Sirius whispered, stroking her hand as she squeezed it, probably more from fear than pain as Lily said her ankle was good as new.

There was the crack of Apparition outside, and Lily rushed to check.

All of the rescue team had made it back, although Remus and Mad-Eye were sporting what would become a few more scars and one of the Prewett twins had a large gash over his left eye that was bleeding heavily, but they were all alive.

"They were so shocked when Olivia and Caradoc disappeared right in front of them that they started worrying more about dodging Voldemort's wrath than trying to kill us," Remus said, swatting away Lily, who was trying to get a better look at the cuts on his arm that looked pretty bad. "Go deal with Gideon, Lily. He's bleeding all over the floor. Anyway, we were able to get away pretty quickly after that, which seemed too easy, but Mad-Eye pointed out that they don't even know where to follow us to, so we're safe." He smiled down at Olivia. "You're safe."

Olivia reached up and took Remus hand in her free hand and brought it to her lips.

"You're alive," she sobbed. "You're all alive."

After a brief moment where Sirius could feel jealousy building in his chest against his better judgment she whispered, "Take me home, Sirius. I can come in to report tomorrow, but I want to go home."

And he happily obliged, scooping her up in his arms and Apparating them both home.


	38. Winter with the Evans's

**A/N: Firstly, a massive thank you to my new, diligent reader: Lizaluvsdoggies. She's also given this story a couple name: Livius. :D I like it, and will probably use it in author's notes and responses to reviews. Secondly, yes, I changed my username. It's so that it's easier for fans of my original works to find. :D**

** -C**

**December, 1972**

The girls sat in the compartment together, excited to spend their winter holiday with each other at Lily's house. Olivia was sitting at the window seat, smiling out at the snow as they sped past it, glad that she was safe and warm inside the train.

"It's not much," Lily said for the thousandth time, nervously looking over at Olivia. "But my parents have been working very hard to make it clean and warm and friendly."

"Sounds better than my house already," Olivia assured her for the hundredth time. "It's large and grand, but it's not particularly friendly. Drizza and Father try, but... well..."

Olivia winced, thinking that it would never really be home. It was where they moved, after her mother was killed. Home was somewhere else, somewhere she could barely recall from her childhood.

But Lily was blanching once more at the mention of the Cromwell's house-elf and Olivia had to talk her down, saying how exciting it would be to have a real Christmas, like everyone else.

"What do you expect the boys will be doing without you this Christmas?" Mary asked, changing the subject. Olivia wasn't the only one getting bored with the same conversation dozens of times over.

"Sirius is going home with Regulus," Olivia sighed. "So he'll be miserable, he assured us. Remus is going home. Peter's staying with the Potters, they said, because his family's all very sick and don't want him to catch it."

It smacked of an excuse to stay in a manor for another holiday, but the Potters didn't care even if they'd noticed, and James could hardly survive without company. When Sirius said he was going back to London James looked as though he was going to cry.

"Sounds like we're going to be having the most fun, then," Mary said with a grin. "I was worried James and Sirius would be together and throw some massive party that would put us to shame."

"Please," Olivia snorted. "As if those boys could put together a part without me, especially if Remus isn't involved!"

"Do we have to talk about the Marauders all night?" Lily asked, her nose wrinkled with disgust.

Olivia disregarded the fact that she, herself, was a Marauder, and just shrugged, smiling back out at the snow, rubbing her hands together.

She'd never spent any length of time in a proper Muggle house, not a wizarding manor or castle, and certainly she'd never spent a winter so far north without heating charms and the like to keep her warm. She wondered how Muggles stayed warm in the winter without them, but she didn't ask. Olivia didn't really like asking questions. She preferred to figure out the answers by watching and learning.

When they arrived in London, Olivia, Mary, and Lily gathered their things. Olivia looked around platform nine and three-quarters as they moved to the entryway back to the Muggle world, looking for her friends. Anne-Claire had stayed at Hogwarts with her own friends, as Olivia had done her first Christmas as a Hogwarts student, so she was nowhere to be seen, but there were the boys a bit in front of the girls in line. Olivia smiled and thought about calling to them to say goodbye, but Remus turned, caught her eye and smiled at her, and she decided that was good enough as she blew him a kiss and watched him blush before Sirius pulled him into the entryway.

By the time the girls had gotten to the Muggle part of King's Cross, the boys were gone. She followed Lily over to her parents, both blond, who were standing with Lily's older, blonde, scowling sister: Petunia.

It was very clear to Olivia after not even a second that no matter how welcoming and warm Mr. and Mrs. Evans were, Petunia certainly did not welcome Mary, Olivia, or even Lily, for that matter.

"Pleased to meet you," Olivia said as aristocratically as she'd been taught throughout her life, offering her hand to Petunia politely, but Petunia looked at it as though it were a snake, ready to bite, until her mother told Petunia to remember her manners.

Oh, she'd remembered them, Olivia thought, she just disregarded them in favor of being rude and self-righteous.

Olivia wanted so badly to ask Lily what her sister's problem was, but she didn't want to be just as rude, asking in front of the girl. She decided to wait until later, when Petunia wasn't around.

"So, Olivia," Mr. Evans said once they were driving northward on something Lily called the 'motorway'. "Lily tells me you're from an old family?"

"Yes, sir," Olivia replied, smiling sweetly as he looked at her in that funny, rectangular mirror on the top front of the car. "My father says we can trace our bloodline back to Merlin on both sides. There's not even two dozen families that can say that."

"What does your father do, dear?" Mrs. Evans asked, curious and kind.

"He's the primary counselor to the Minister of Magic," Olivia said proudly.

"And your mother?"

"_Mum!_" Lily hissed.

"Oh, yes, I'm so sorry, dear," Mrs. Evans said quickly, sincerely.

Lily must have warned her that Olivia's mother was dead, but Mrs. Evans had forgotten. Olivia didn't want her to feel bad, so she answered the question anyway.

"No, it's fine. My mother didn't work. My father didn't need to, either, but he's never liked not having something to do."

"Livia's going to be the richest witch in England!" Mary said. "Well, when her father dies."

Mr. and Mrs. Evans exchanged what was probably a nervous look.

"Anyway," Olivia continued, trying to avoid talking about money as much as possible, "my mother was killed, by Dark Wizards. I was a small child, but I remember a bit when we found out."

They were mostly silent the rest of the way to the Evans's house, although Mrs. Evans did ask about Mary's family as well, politely, and Mary responded just as politely.

Apparently, bringing up dead parents was a damper on merriment, at least temporarily. Olivia made a mental note of this and resolved to write all of the boys before she went to bed that night. It wasn't that she regretted her decision, but she was feeling a little lonely without them, especially Remus and Sirius.

Mary and Olivia would be sharing the guest room, which wasn't particularly large, but as the girls were used to sharing a room during the school year, anyway, they didn't mind, and they assured Mr. and Mrs. Evans of this, who seemed rather self-conscious as their daughter once Mary had spilled the beans on Olivia's family's wealth.

The holidays weren't particularly unfamiliar, even in the new setting, and Olivia and Mary felt like part of the family in no time at all, and Mary didn't even mind that Olivia stayed up all hours of the night writing letters to the boys.

Olivia woke up Christmas Eve to find Mary standing over her, frowning.

"You were starting to get loud," she whispered. "I thought you might wake up the others, and I wouldn't know how to explain..."

"No, it's fine," Olivia muttered, rubbing her eyes and sitting up slightly. "Did I wake you?"

"No," Mary said quickly. "I almost never sleep on Christmas Eve. I get too excited. I was just staring at the ceiling, trying to decide if it's more taupe or beige by the street light. What do you think?"

Olivia looked up at the ceiling, considering.

"Definitely taupe," she said with a certainty that only a thirteen-year-old could have about ceiling color. "Want to sit down?"

Mary sat and it wasn't long until they were lying back against Olivia's pillows, which Olivia had spread more so that they could share more comfortably. Mary slipped under the covers and pulled them up to her chin.

"So what were you dreaming about?" Mary finally asked softly.

Olivia nibbled her lip for a moment.

"I don't remember," she lied. "Was I saying anything?"

"Something about how you didn't know anything. Which is silly, because you know everything."

"Not everything," Olivia chuckled. "But thank you."

It was her kidnapping, of course. She'd dreamed it over and over in so many forms.

"What do you do when you have bad dreams at Hogwarts?" Mary asked. "I know you have them, but you leave the room."

"I go to Remus," Olivia admitted. "Sometimes Sirius, but usually Remus."

"What do they do?"

"They tell me that I'm all right," Olivia sighed. "And then they hug me tightly and we fall asleep. Or at least, I fall asleep. I don't have bad dreams when I don't sleep by myself."

She felt Mary wrap her up in a gently, friendly hug, and rest her head on Olivia's shoulder.

"Then you're not going to sleep by herself," Mary said firmly. "I don't like the thought of you having a bunch of nightmares when it's such an easy fix. And don't you dare try to talk me out of it," she added when Olivia took a breath to suggest that Mary didn't have to do such a thing.

"All right, then," Olivia said with a small smile at her friend's stubbornness. "Good night, Mary."

"Sweet dreams, Livia," Mary whispered.

In the morning, when Olivia woke up again, she was alone, but Mary's side of the bed had been folded down and Mary was turned to the pile of presents that had arrived.

"I put your gifts in your pile," Mary said, gesturing to the stack of parcels at Olivia's feet.

Before Olivia even had a chance to scramble toward her own gifts, Lily had come bursting in with a large pile of parcels in her arms, settling herself down on the floor beside Mary.

"I wanted us to open them together," Lily said excitedly. "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas!" the other two girls chorus happily, and they began tearing into their gifts.

From Mary and Margery jointly, Olivia received a new dress, a pale purple thing that was exactly the cut Olivia loved. From Lily, a new set of books on Transfiguration, which was exactly what Olivia wanted, and she couldn't wait to start searching through for any sort of hints that could help her on the quest to become an Animagus.

And then she found Remus's gift, which was a beautiful hand-carved mahogany hand mirror, and on the back she found a small engraving that said, 'To my beautiful Livia, so you can never forget how perfect you are.'

"Oh, it's gorgeous!" Lily said admiring the mirror as Mary put a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans in between them to share, one that the twins had sent her.

"Do you think it's enchanted?" Olivia asked, touching the engraving thoughtfully.

"What makes you think that?" Mary asked incredulously, fishing through the beans for one that seemed safe.

Olivia pointed out the engraving and asked if the bean was all right.

"Yeah, raspberry cordial. Don't be silly, Livia. He's just telling you how beautiful you are," Mary replied, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, it's like you've never been complimented before sometimes."

The other boys had gotten her massive amounts of sweets, which she shared with Mary and Lily. Her father had bought her some new ink, a couple of new dresses, and a necklace that Lily and Mary spent almost a half hour squealing about jealously. Anne-Claire had gotten her sister an expensive sort of perfume that they thought smelled terrible and promptly decided to re-gift to Petunia, who Lily said loved that sort of thing.

"Smells so bad it's got to be expensive," Lily said with a shrug. "She goes mad over that sort of stuff."

Christmas dinner was a lovely event, with the Evans's putting together an incredibly delicious spread for their guests.

"As good as anything I've ever had from a house-elf," Olivia declared honestly after her final slice of pie, laughing as Mr. Evans inquired good-naturedly where she put it all.

Olivia didn't miss the proud flush of Lily and Mrs. Evans at her compliment, however.

It was certainly more festive than Olivia expected a family Christmas to be. With only the three of them, they'd never been near as raucous, but pulling Muggle crackers with the girls (which only gave out flimsy paper crowns that Olivia found fascinating) was nearly as fun as turning Snape's hair purple with the boys.

New Year's Eve, Mary, Olivia, and Lily decided to go to the park and throw snowballs at each other.

"It'll be fun!" Olivia squealed as Lily expressed her hesitance.

It wasn't, however, the snowballs Lily had been worried about, Olivia discovered when they reached the park.

"Well, if it isn't Cromwell," said a voice that Olivia would recognize anywhere. "Coming down from your manor to grace the peasants with your wonderful presence?"

"Snivellus," Olivia snarled. "You're acting quite a big man for someone who can't use magic here anymore than I can."

He sneered at her.

"I can fight as a Muggle as well," he snarled. "But I'm not going to throw the first punch at a girl."

"Why not?" she said sweetly. "You're awfully quick to throw out the first verbal punches."

"Sev, Livia, please," Lily pleaded. "It's the holidays. Can't you just get along for one day? Even just for an hour?"

"I'll behave if Snivelly does," Olivia said haughtily, aware that she was taunting him and that it wouldn't earn her any points with Lily, but she had pride to maintain.

"Awfully bold without Potter and Black to finish your battles," he said softly so that only Olivia could hear.

"And you're awfully bold without a prefect to look over your shoulder and lie for you," she hissed back.

"Maybe we should go back, Livia," Mary said nervously. "I mean, it's sort of cold."

"It's not gotten any colder," Olivia retorted.

Taking out her anger at Snape on Mary wasn't the right thing to do, Olivia knew it, but she felt so much better when she was being nasty to someone.

"Sev, please," Lily said again. "We don't want a fight. We're going to go home. You should do the same."

It was as though Snape had just realized that Lily was there, and with a brief hesitation he nodded, turning his back on them and walking away. Olivia pouted, but she and her friends said nothing about the altercation as they returned to the Evans home, finding that Mrs. Evans had made them hot chocolate and laid out fresh clothes for them.

"I hope you don't mind," she said nervously. "I just thought you might prefer to be warm than to have to search through your things while still wet."

The girls assured her that they didn't mind at all.

Severus Snape was not mentioned at all that night, except for just before the girls were going to go to bed, sipping the dregs of their tea as they waited patiently to count in the New Year.

"We're not mentioning today again," Olivia said firmly. "Not to anyone. It might get back to the boys."

They all nodded.

"Do you think they would do something to him for that?" Mary asked. "I mean, nothing really even happened."

"They shouldn't," Olivia agreed. "But tell Sirius what he shouldn't do and he takes it as a challenge. James is hardly better, most times."

"Potter's usually worse," Lily snorted.

Just then, her father sat down with them.

"Who's Potter?" he asked curiously. "Someone from school?"

"James Potter," Mary supplied quickly. "He's in our house, in our year. He's one of Livia's best friends."

"He's an arrogant toerag," Lily muttered into her tea.

"He's been asking Lily out fairly regularly for a while now," Mary giggled. "He thinks she's perfect. I think it's romantic."

"I think it's annoying," Olivia admitted, and Lily murmured her agreement.

"Still," Mary argued, "he's the only heir of one of the best families in the wizarding world, and not even one of the crazy ones, like Sirius's family. And he's not bad-looking, either."

"Sure, if you like big-headed and messed up hair," Lily snorted. "Even I can admit that Sirius is the good-looking one. No offense to Remus, of course," she added quickly, looking over at Olivia.

"I've heard of Remus," Mr. Evans said, amused.

"He and Livia are together," Mary squealed. "It's adorable."

"He's a good boy, this Remus?"

"The best," the girls all chorused, smiling.

Mr. Evans grinned.

"And this Sirius? This good-looking one?"

"He's an arrogant twit," Lily said firmly.

"You're just mad because he likes to fight with Snivellus... I mean Snape," Olivia said, hating the taste of his proper surname in her mouth. "I can't blame him for that. Anyway, Sirius isn't so bad, Mr. Evans. His family's not the greatest, but he's a good, loyal friend. He's a bit of an idiot as a boyfriend, though."

Mary and Olivia giggled, and then Mary explained that Sirius was dating one of the Sitzer twins.

"I don't think relationships were half so complicated when I was your age," Mr. Evans said good-naturedly. "But you all seem to be able to keep it straight fine. Maybe you're just cleverer than we were."

They were about to assure Mr. Evans that they couldn't be cleverer than he and his generation were, although they knew he meant it in jest, when Mrs. Evans began counting in the New Year with the box Lily called a television. They were counting in with some crowd in some place in London that Olivia had never been to, but the energy was infectious.

"Five!"

The girls were squealing the numbers excitedly, as though a New Year really meant something.

"Four!"

Even Petunia was smiling, Olivia noticed.

"Three!"

Mr. Evans had a Muggle noisemaker at the ready.

"Two!"

Mary squeezed Olivia's hand gently, smiling at her.

"One!"

They all screamed tidings of a happy New Year, and Olivia couldn't remember smiling as much in her whole life.


	39. Like Coming Home

**January, 1973**

Sirius drummed on the window of the train. He was the first of his friends back to the train after the holidays. James and Peter probably had a blast. Remus was sure to at least have a pleasant holiday, if not a wonderful one, and he knew that Olivia had had a grand old time with Mary and Evans, judging by her ecstatic letters. He grinned a little to himself, thinking about the pranks she'd told him about that they'd pulled on Evans's sister and how friendly the parents were.

He'd just gotten a beating for all of the detentions he'd gotten.

Sure, he'd gotten presents. Most of the things from his family he'd hated, and all of the things from his friends had been carefully packed away in his trunk so that his family didn't see what it was and who it was from.

The last thing he needed was some sort of issue about him being friends with Olivia again, whatever that was all about.

"Hey," said the familiar voice of Jiki Sitzer.

"Hey," he said with a smile, motioning for her to come and sit with him. "How was your holiday?"

"All right, I guess," she said with a shrug. "That was a very nice scarf. Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it," he said honestly, reminding himself to thank Olivia later for the advice to get her something blue, and mentioning that she seemed to really like scarves. "Thank you for the book. I look forward to reading it."

That, of course, meant that he looked forward to having Olivia read it and tell him what it was about so he could talk about it intelligently if Jiki asked. Which she would.

Ravenclaws could be scary sometimes, and when books were involved Sirius tried not to be.

He was rescued from having to further discuss gifts when Olivia and Remus came into the compartment, holding hands. Sirius grinned at them.

"Making up for time apart, I see," he teased. "How was the Muggle world, Livia?"

"Fascinating," she said, sitting down on Remus's lap, across from Sirius and Jiki. "We had a blast. Lily's parents are really nice, too."

"Wonder where she gets the stick up her arse from, then," Sirius muttered, which earned him two disapproving glares from his fellow Marauders.

That was one advantage to dating Jiki instead of a girl like Olivia: she was so awed to be dating him that she wouldn't dare give him a look like that, even though Evans was her friend, too.

Before anyone had a chance to further any particular point of the conversation, though, James and Peter came into the compartment, settling by the door.

"Hey mates," James said cheerily. "Hey, Sitzer. You'll never guess what Peter and I did this Christmas!"

"You broke into your family's liquor cabinet and got totally pissed together?" Olivia said lazily, looking down at her nails with apparent interest.

"How did you know?" James asked, disappointment covering his face.

"You told us last year that you do that every Christmas," she said with a shrug. "It was a reasonable guess that you would have forgotten that you said it."

Sirius couldn't help but be impressed with her near-perfect memory. He would never understand how she could remember details of conversations they'd had a year ago, but she could recall it like she'd heard it yesterday.

"How was your Christmas, then, Remus?" Sirius asked, realizing he'd neglected to ask earlier.

"Fine," Remus said with a shrug. "Lonely, I guess. But not bad. What about you, Sirius?"

"Fine," Sirius lied, and he wondered if Remus was lying too.

When it became clear to the others that Sirius wasn't going to elaborate on his one-word answer, they began talking of other things, of thanking each other for presents and what they thought they would do as their first prank of the new term. Jiki, Remus, and Olivia, even had a brief conversation about what sort of things they would be doing in class when they started up again the next morning.

"How can you even think about school right now?" James moaned. "We've got Quidditch to consider, Livia! Have you been practicing?"

"Oh, yes, James," she said dryly. "I got loads of Quidditch practice in Lily's Muggle neighborhood. There were lots of places where I could fly around on a broomstick unseen by Muggles."

"Good, I was worried," James said with a sigh of relief.

"She was being sarcastic, you git," Sirius said with a roar of laughter. "Of course she didn't get any practice! Merlin, you're absurd."

It was no secret that James knew very little about Muggles and really had no desire to get to know much more about them than was immediately of interest, like the Muggle music Sirius had picked up from his years of 'research', or some of the Muggle sweets Olivia had gotten from Evans. For Sirius, who found Muggles fascinating, he couldn't really understand James's lack of fascination, but at least he had Olivia to talk with about the ways of Muggles. Jiki was almost no help. If it wasn't in a book she could find in a library, or didn't stem from something she'd read, she couldn't let it 'occupy her time'.

Whatever that meant.

James spluttered indignantly, but it didn't change that he'd made a bit of a fool of himself, and maybe even added to that.

The rest of the train ride was teasing and laughing and telling of many jokes. Sirius couldn't believe how much more at home he felt, sitting with his friends in a train compartment, than he had in his own home.

He was barely aware of the fact that Jiki was holding his hand, he was too busy smiling and laughing at the battle of wits that James was losing terribly to Olivia.

Perhaps that was what home was, Sirius reasoned: being with friends. He couldn't say that about his family, that he thought of any of them as friends but his cousin Andromeda. Even Regulus had turned his back on Sirius.

/-/

Remus lay awake that night for a while, watching Olivia sleep in his arms. She'd seemed happier after coming back from holiday, energized. He liked watching her smile in her sleep, and he brushed a bit of hair out of her face that was sticking to her cheek.

Sirius, on the other hand, seemed worse for having been away. Remus wished he could put his finger on just what was wrong there, what was bugging him, but he couldn't recall exactly what had stirred the concern in the first place.

There was something in the way Sirius had been smiling tightly at Jiki when they'd gotten to the compartment, only really brightening when he saw the smile on Olivia's face, the one thing they saw too little not to be pleased at the sight of. And then Sirius hadn't talked at all on his own holiday activities, just said that it had been 'fine', in a tone that said to Remus that it had been anything but. And then, then there had been the way that Sirius looked wistfully out of the window he sat at for several minutes at a time, seeming to get lost in whatever he was thinking about or looking at.

It seemed to Remus that Sirius was like someone who was trying to forget a bad experience. Remus had been like that often enough, as had Olivia, so it wasn't an unfamiliar thing, but seeing it on Sirius was strange, foreign. He and James were both so carefree and confident. Sirius as anything but that almost didn't seem like Sirius to Remus, but Olivia could still be Olivia when she was in pain and shaking with fear, and it didn't have to define her.

Sirius was still Sirius. He was just Sirius with more layers.

Remus fell asleep finally, hugging Olivia tightly, wishing he didn't have to go back to classes right way. He'd hardly had any time alone with her since arriving at the station.

Still, the following morning, Olivia smiled at him when they awoke to the sun shining through the gap in his bed hangings, kissed his lips gently, and then climbed out of bed, going back to her own dormitory to get ready for the day.

Sirius was awake, too, stretching and waving at Olivia as she left the room on light feet.

"All right there, Mooney?" he asked, smiling over at Remus, and Remus wanted to say that Sirius was the one who wasn't all right, but he let it go.

If Sirius didn't want to talk about it, it wasn't his place to pry. Sirius hadn't pried about his 'illness'. It would be a poor way to repay him for keeping the secret, by pushing him about his personal life.

It was a strange thought, Remus mused as he nodded, lying back on the pillow and trying not to feel like his arms were empty without Olivia in them. The Marauders somehow had lives independent of each other.

Well, maybe not Peter, but the others did.

Remus, well, he had his lycanthropy. That was something none of them could share. And Olivia, she had Mary and Margery and Lily. James had Quidditch, although Olivia shared that. And he also had his obsession with Lily. And Sirius had Jiki and his Quidditch commentary. They all had something they weren't really sharing with the others, excepting Peter.

He climbed out of bed, fishing out a uniform for the day, and going to take a shower. As he stripped down, turning on the water and testing it with his hand, he tried to think about how he would go about his concern for Sirius. The water was too hot, so he turned on a bit more of the cold and waited for it to change. Once it was right, he stepped into the shower, feeling the warm water cascade down his scarred body, and his mind instantly wondered if Olivia was showering over in her dormitory.

Remus could picture it, her small, petite body standing beneath a waterfall of warm water, each droplet kissing her skin before rolling down her curves to the shower floor. He moaned, shivering at the thought of her running her hands over her skin.

He really had to stop thinking of such things, even in the shower. From the way James and Sirius talked about girls, it was a normal thing to think about, but Remus felt like he was both intruding on her privacy somehow, even in his imagination, and as though he was doing something dirty and wrong, thinking about her that way.

He turned the cold water up just a bit more, hoping it would help wash away the thoughts and feelings.

It worked well enough, and he was able to wash his hair and skin, dry off, get dressed, brush his teeth, dry and comb his hair, and make his way back into the dormitory to gather his things for class.

"Morning," James grumbled more than said, as he passed him on his way to the shower. Remus snorted, looking over at Sirius, who must have decided to shower later.

"James looks terrible," Remus said, deciding not to mention holidays at all, at least not at the moment. "Did you see that?"

Sirius nodded and said, "Like the walking dead."

We both looked after where James had just exited and then turned back to shrug at each other, getting our things into our bags.

"Oi," Kurt moaned from his bed, "is the shower free?"

"James just went in," Sirius said. "I'm sure if you ask sweetly he'll let you join him."

Kurt paled a little a mumbled something about waiting as he rolled out of bed and stretched his arms tiredly.

There was a stirring in Peter's bed, but he wasn't up yet, so Sirius nodded over at him and I sighed, heading over to Peter's bed lightly shaking him awake.

Once they were all out of bed, showered, dressed, and had our bags filled and flung over our shoulders, we went down to breakfast, where we saw Olivia sitting with Jiki, Kiki, and Mary, gossiping over plates of eggs and sausages.

Remus sat down beside Olivia, Sirius beside Jiki, James by Mary, and Peter by Kiki.

"Good morning," Olivia said brightly, pecking Remus smartly on the lips, which he noticed prompted Sirius to mutter a general greeting to Jiki and kiss the corner of her mouth.

Sirius and Jiki were a strange couple, Remus mused, filling up his plate with sausage as Olivia began catching the boys up on all the gossip they'd missed. Sirius knew enough about girls, but he seemed to have to be told by Olivia to do anything where Jiki was concerned, not because he didn't like her, but Remus really wasn't sure what the hold-up was. Olivia certainly didn't have to tell Remus to kiss her.

The other side of the coin was that Jiki never seemed to initiate anything, unlike Olivia, even though she was obsessed with Sirius and obviously really wanted to be with him and have him hold her hand and kiss her and whatnot.

"Ready for classes?" Remus asked no one in particular.

He was, admittedly, a bit annoyed with all the gossip about winter holiday, especially with the obvious dark expression that flitted across Sirius's face whenever it was mentioned by anyone, so he turned it to something that nobody could take exception to.

Except apparently, they all could, because like he'd flipped some sort of switch, every person in his group moaned collectively except for him, and it was all he could do not to laugh incredulously at the behavior.

"What?" he asked. "What's so bad about class?"

"Remus," Olivia sighed, as though about to explain something obvious to a small child, "we don't want to go to class. We want to go throw the last bits of snow at each other and then race to the kitchens for biscuits and tea. Especially after such a lovely break, nobody wants to go to class."

Remus really couldn't understand that attitude, but he nodded as though he did, watching Sirius as he poked at the eggs on his plate absently.

Sirius, it seemed, would rather not talk about class or holiday, and Remus was running out of good ideas to change the subject.

So having easily run out of things to say, he decided to kiss Olivia, less like the peck she'd given him when he sat down and more like the kisses they never shared where anyone could see. Remus knew it would change the direction of the gossiping, and he didn't hold it so long as would be improper, but he was disappointed to see that Sirius's countenance was no lighter for the distraction.

Maybe something else was bothering him, Remus mused, and not his holiday.

Or maybe, said a nasty voice in the back of Remus's mind, he just doesn't like the sight of you kissing the prettiest girl at the table.

/-/

Olivia couldn't figure out what was going on. She wasn't about to complain about the kiss, even though it was the sort of thing he would never do without her coaxing him. It was a lovely kiss, after all.

But there was something about the way Remus kept looking at Sirius, trying to get some sort of reaction, that had Olivia concerned about the both of them.

It was true, Sirius smelled miserable. She'd noticed that when they'd first got into the compartment. And Remus smelled worried. She'd noticed that not too long after. What she couldn't understand was the why that Remus seemed to have grasped onto, although he wasn't doing a very good job of dealing with it, whatever it was. She decided she would have to do a bit of snooping and figure it out for herself, fix it for herself, because boys never seemed to be able to help each other in that way. They didn't talk to each other. They just assumed, and Olivia's father had taught her very young that assumptions could be very dangerous.

She wasn't sure yet how she was going to coax the situation out of Sirius, who hadn't seemed to notice Remus's concern, but she knew it wasn't going to be any sort of short-term endeavor. Settling in for the long haul, Olivia declared that it was nearly time for class and when her words were proven, everyone abandoned conversation and began shoveling the last of their breakfasts in their mouths as fast as they could manage.

Olivia couldn't be sure, but she thought she'd seen Remus shooting her an appreciative look. She couldn't help but smile a little as she finished up her pumpkin juice.


	40. Let's Try V-Day

**February, 1973**

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **_**Lizaluvspuppies**_**, who's faithful and fun correspondence is currently fueling this story. She is also the maker of couple names for this story. The latest concoction is 'Rolivia', and of course she previously came up with 'Livius', which I just love. Enjoy!**

** -C**

Valentine's Day had to be the most terrifying day of the year, Sirius and Remus had agreed.

Girls, they had come to understand from listening to older boys and begging Mary MacDonald for advice when they could catch her alone, had expectations for Valentine's Day.

"Tell you what," Sirius had told Remus, "I'll front all the gold for the holiday if you front all of the thinking."

Remus, who was utterly broke, decided this was a fair exchange.

"What have you got?" Remus asked as Sirius sat down across from him, frowning.

"Hey, cut me slack," Sirius groaned. "I've not slept for three days. James has me helping him on that thing he's doing for Evans."

"What thing?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"You'll see," Sirius muttered with a grimace. "Anyway, I've got the chocolates, teddy bears, and jewelry. Do girls really expect this at thirteen you think?"

"Mary wouldn't lie," Remus reasoned. "And you know Livia and her high expectations."

They both nodded.

Olivia, despite what she believed about herself, was a lady in every sense. Whether she realized it or not, she was very high maintenance. Sirius had even gotten an extra box of chocolates for her, knowing that her sweet tooth was only matched by Remus's.

"Right," Remus sighed. "I've almost got these roses. They keep coming out in the wrong colors, though."

"Let me see," Sirius insisted.

Remus cleared his throat and said, "_Orchideous_."

Sirius frowned, watching the roses that were supposed to be crimson, for Olivia, come out a burgundy shade.

"I see what you mean," Sirius sighed. "All right, well, let's see if I can do the ones for Jiki and we'll try to sort it out from there." He cleared is own throat. "_Orchideous_."

Just like that, a bouquet of beautiful blue and bronze roses had appeared, and Remus's jaw dropped.

"How did you get two colors?" he squeaked, flipping through the spell book frantically, trying to find somewhere that gave a tip about multiple colors. "Where did you learn that?"

Sirius shrugged.

"It was the same basic principle as one. Anyway, I think you're holding out your vowels too long. Try again."

Remus did, doing his best to make his vowels shorter, like Sirius's, and was surprised to find that the flowers were much close to Gryffindor crimson. Once they'd gone over the other things Remus had been working on, Sirius spent an hour working with Remus on the colors, perfecting his crimson and adding gold into the mix.

Remus also noticed that while he hadn't fully held up his end of the bargain, Sirius made no mention of Remus chipping in any gold. He was grateful, as he really had none at all, but he was a bit embarrassed that Sirius had made that very statement by not mentioning it even as a joke.

But such things are quickly forgotten at thirteen, and Remus went to bed on the thirteenth of February with anxiety, waiting for Olivia.

Like clockwork, she crawled into his bed about half an hour later, not disturbing him, just pulling the covers up to her chin and cuddling into his chest. Remus, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Good night," she whispered to him through the dark.

"Sweet dreams," Remus whispered, hoping his own dreams weren't filled with anxious nightmares of ruining the next day.

When he woke, though, he couldn't recall what he'd dreamed about, or if he'd dreamed at all. Sirius was already dressing, hair wet from showering, and Remus knew he was off to meet Jiki before breakfast. Remus and Sirius agreed that it would be best if they did it before Jiki and Olivia had a chance to chat with each other, so that they could deny having consulted each other, if it was suspected. In hindsight, Remus thought it might be a bit obvious since Sirius had gotten the same chocolates and bears, although he'd had the good sense not to get them the same jewelry.

Olivia was snuggling comfortably into Remus's chest, her face peaceful and pleased, the way it always seemed to be when he watched her sleep. He shifted slightly to make his back more comfortable, praying he wouldn't wake her, but moments later her face scrunched up a bit and her eyes blinked their way open progressively before she looked up at him and smiled.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning," he said softly. "I've got some things for you before breakfast."

She frowned.

"It's not my birthday, Remus. We've already done that."

"I know that, silly," he laughed. "It's a different holiday. Valentine's Day, remember?"

Her pretty green eyes grew wide and she gasped.

"Oh!" she whispered in a sort of excited stage whisper. "Oh, Remus, it's our first Valentine's Day! I feel awful, I forgot all about it because James wasn't harassing me about a party and... Wait a minute." Her face darkened and she frowned. "If James wasn't planning a party, what _was_ he planning? Because that boy never forgets any holiday for any reason and he didn't get a Christmas party, or New Year's."

While Remus agreed that this was a bit troublesome and disconcerting, because she was absolutely right, the last thing he wanted was for James's behavior to become the focus of his first Valentine's Day with Olivia, not after he and Sirius had gone to so much effort to make it special.

"Right," he said awkwardly. "Well, we can think on that later, if you don't mind."

"Oh, Remus," she said sadly. "I didn't do anything for you and I feel terrible."

"Don't," Remus said honestly, kissing her gently. "All I need is a chance to spoil you. That's the best gift you can give me."

Olivia gave him a look that said she didn't believe him at all. Remus just laughed and pulled the gift basket he'd prepared out from under the bed. He set it between them, watched her face light up with surprise, and then cleared his throat, focused as he'd done the other day with Sirius, and said, "_Orchideous_."

She giggled happily as he presented her with a bouquet of crimson and gold roses.

"Wow," she sighed, looking over the gift basket as she smelled the roses. "You didn't have to go to all this... Oh, two boxes of chocolates? Are you trying to make me fat, Remus?"

Remus blushed.

This was not the intended response. Had the two boxes been a bad idea? He didn't want her getting the wrong impressions, but she so loved chocolates and he thought that if he'd only gotten her one box they'd be gone before lunch and - and - and-

"I - I-"

"Relax, Remus, I'm only teasing," she said with a grin. "Oh, they look lovely!" She took one of the chocolates out of the box and examined it with a scrutinizing eye. Then, Remus's heart beating faster with each deliciously agonizing moment, she lifted the chocolate to her lips and popped it into her mouth, past her lips, and he watched her chew, heard her moan happily...

Remus swallowed uncomfortably, realizing that he was a bit too excited to watch her eat chocolate. What if she were to notice?

He shouldn't have been so worried about it. She'd had her eyes the whole time she was eating, and then when she opened them again, she was looking straight into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "Here, have one."

Remus tried to protest, tried to say they were a gift, but Olivia was nearly impossible to reason with when she wanted something. So he found her fingers and the chocolate between them making their way to his protesting mouth, felt the chocolate slide between his lips, felt her fingers linger on his lips as he tasted both the chocolate and the slightly salty, delicious taste that lingered from her fingers on the chocolate, murmuring a wordless appreciation at both tastes as he chewed.

It really was quite good chocolate, Remus mused, and he was surprised to find that she'd replaced her fingers with her lips, kissing him eagerly as he chewed the chocolate.

Remus couldn't help but moan at the taste of chocolate and her lips, chocolate on her lips, and the chocolate in his mouth and the very thought of all of it happening the way it was.

Mary was right. Chocolate was a very, very good Valentine's Day gift indeed.

The kiss was over far too quickly for Remus's liking, but it had to have been their longest kiss yet, he was sure, if he'd been rational enough to count out the seconds.

"Oh, Remus, a teddy bear!" she squealed. "Oh, he's so adorable!"

He smiled, watching her pick up the stuffed bear and cuddle it.

"Anne-Claire and I never had stuffed animals growing up," she sighed. "Father never would have thought of it, and my grandparents preferred getting us 'useful' things. I expect my mother would have thought to give us something soft and cuddly, but, well..."

Remus wondered if all this thought of her mother was going to upset her, but instead Olivia cuddled the bear tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I don't know what to name him, but I imagine Lily will have all sorts of ideas about it."

"I'm sure she will," he muttered with a smile, watching her turn back to the basket, to the small wrapped box that held Sirius's final task.

"What's this?" she asked.

"You have to open it and see!" he teased.

She ripped the carefully done wrapping paper off the box, which made Remus wince. He liked to reuse wrapping paper when he could, although Olivia enjoyed ripping the paper completely, so he tried not to make a fuss about it.

"Oh, Remus," she sighed, tutting a bit when she saw what it was. "I don't see how you could afford anything-"

"Don't worry about it, Livia," he said quickly. He could feel his ears coloring with embarrassment. "It's been taken care of."

She shook her head, seeming amused, but she opened the box and gasped.

"Remus, it's beautiful!" she sighed.

He let out his sigh of relief slowly, so as not to draw attention as she eased the silver heart pendant out of the box, looking at it in the dim light.

"Would you like me to help you with that?" Remus whispered. Olivia nodded.

She turned her back to him, pulling her hair up like she was going to put it in a bun and holding it out of the way as he put the pendant around her neck and did up the clasp carefully. He relished the opportunity to lean in so close to her neck in the low light of the dormitory to see the small clasp better, and he couldn't help but admire the scent of her neck, that smell that was her and the smell that was him lingering on her his holding her all night long. A growl was rising up in his throat in approval of the mix of scents, but he held it in.

"There," he said softly, moving away from her slightly and watching her hair flow down over her graceful neck again. "Beautiful, just like you."

He was glad that she was still turned around because he blushed at his own words, feeling a bit ridiculous at what he'd just said. It was true, though, although he thought she was far more beautiful than the pendant, although Sirius had done a good job.

Remus wondered who'd helped him choose, since he didn't have an eye for that sort of thing.

Either Mary or the saleswoman, Remus was sure.

/-/

"So," Jiki sighed, "what do we do with these boys?"

Olivia giggled.

"I say we let them think we don't know any different, for this one," Olivia sighed. "I mean, they did put quite a bit of effort in, really. Asking Mary, dividing the workload... It's Lily I feel sorry for, not us. We got nice, traditional, proper Valentine's gifts."

Jiki and Kiki shuddered.

James had made a giant card, which was delivered in the form of a Howler to Lily, and when she tried to ignore it, noting that it was sent from his owl, it exploded in front of the entire Great Hall, singing her praises and begging for her attention. And a kiss.

He certainly got the attention, but the kiss was denied of him.

And Olivia didn't think that her screaming how much she couldn't stand him and cursing him was really the sort of attention that James was looking for.

"Yeah, that was really awkward," Kiki said softly. "For everyone at Hogwarts, I think."

"Probably not for James," Olivia pointed out with a shrug. "I think his ego's so big that all embarrassment and awkwardness doesn't even register to him."

"Please tell me you didn't take part in this," Jiki sighed.

"Of course not," Olivia sniffed. "I've told James that I'm not taking sides in this whole fiasco. If you're wondering who worked out how to send a Howler for him, I'm strongly suspicious that that was Sirius."

"Really?" Jiki squeaked. "Wow, I guess he is very smart. But I guess I would have thought that you or Remus would have been the only ones working to educate that pair."

Olivia smiled. Sirius wasn't exactly underestimated, but often forgotten when anything educational or research based was concerned. When he was thought of, he was thought of well, but she and Lily and Remus were thought of far more frequently.

She shrugged cryptically, touching the teddy bear tenderly.

"They did a good job, though, didn't they?" she said softly, more to herself than to the twins.

"You mean Mary did a good job," Kiki teased.

Olivia shrugged again, pursing her lips.

"But they put Mary's advice to good use, I mean," she clarified. "Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. Are we agreed to pretend we don't know exactly what they did?"

"Works for me," Jiki said brightly.

"They're not my boyfriends to chastise anyway," Kiki said with a shrug.

The girls giggled, and Olivia noticed Peter walking past nearby. She figured he was probably sent by one of the other boys to see what she was up to and that she was safe.

"Peter," she muttered under her breath. "Just leave me alone."

To her surprise, Peter jumped slightly, looking over at her with shock covering his pointed features.

"How did you do that?" he squeaked.

"Do what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

He blinked at her, probably trying to decide whether she was pulling his leg or not, but then he scrambled away, obviously eager to tell Remus, Sirius, or James something. Maybe all three.

"I... I have to go," Olivia said slowly. "I don't know what Peter thinks I just did, but I've got a feeling the Marauders are about to have a bit of a meeting."

The Sitzer twins said they had homework to be about anyway, and Olivia gave them each a hug before hurrying off to the boys' dormitory, barging in.

"Oi!" Sirius snapped. "One of us could have been changing or something!"

Olivia shrugged.

"Peter, what do you think I did? I don't understand?"

"Peter here thinks you were speaking inside his head," James snorted. "Tell her what you said to us, Pete. She'll get a right laugh out of it too."

"I'm not making it up!" Peter squeaked indignantly. "She was across the courtyard and muttering. I couldn't even see her lips clear enough to know what she was saying, but I could hear her in my head as if she was standing right behind me!"

"Pete, that's impossible," Sirius said gently. "Are you sure you didn't just think you heard it?"

"What did I say, Peter?" Olivia asked, wondering why Peter would come up with such a crazy idea. It was a bit creative for him.

"You told me to leave you alone," he said confidently, and Olivia blinked at him, surprised.

"I did say that," she said, awkwardly, to the room, and the joking atmosphere grew shocked and serious instantly. "There was no way you could have read my lips from across the courtyard like that, and I was very quiet."

"Weird," Sirius said slowly. "How did you do it, Livia?"

"I don't know, do I?" she snapped. "I didn't even realize I'd done it at all! I was just talking, like I normally do."

The five of them looked at each other uneasily, trying to decide what to do with this new information. It was silent in the dormitory, which it wasn't even during the dead of night, with Peter softly snoring.

The Marauders were confused.

"So if you didn't mean to do it," James said slowly, finally, "and didn't know that you did it... Well, how are we supposed to figure out how you did it, Livia? This is strange."

"I don't know," Olivia sighed, shaking her head. "What branch of magic would that fall under?"

They all turned to Remus, who shrugged.

"There are a few branches it might be related to," he admitted, "but they're all rare, obscure, and take years of study to master. And I don't even know enough about them to know if this is even possible through any of them."

"So we can't have her do it again?" Sirius moaned, disappointed.

Remus shrugged again.

"The one thing we could do," he said, "is keep track of instances where she does things that are unusual and look for patterns. That is... if you don't mind, Livia."

Olivia frowned slightly.

While she wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being treated like an experiment, she was just as excited and curious about what had happened as the boys. And so, reluctantly, she said, "Okay. We can keep track of my strangeness."


	41. Unhappy Valentine's Day

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my lovely reader, **_**Lizaluvsdoggies**_**, whose username I screwed up last chapter. Cheers, Liza!**

** -C**

**February, 1979**

Olivia sighed, wishing she and Sirius could spend Valentine's Day doing anything but work for the Order. She wasn't entirely sure what the mission was, only that Sirius's bartering in the second-hand shop in Diagon Alley was important somehow, so she leaned against the stone wall, watching shoppers and happy couples go by.

Sirius had promised to spoil her once he was done with his business in Diagon Alley, so she waited as patiently for him as she could manage.

The people rushing by weren't people she knew, which was one of the great blessings of having lived a fairly sheltered life. The only people she knew were people she'd met at Hogwarts, the Order, or Death Eaters, so she wasn't often greeted by people when she went out.

Speaking of Death Eaters, she could see Eva and Regulus down the street a little ways arguing about something and she mused how from where she was standing they could have been her and Sirius.

She glanced back into the window to see that Sirius was still chattering away animatedly with the store owner. When she looked back at the crowd of shoppers, however, Eva was nowhere to be seen, but Regulus was looking right at her, motioning for her to follow him, motioning toward Knockturn Alley.

Olivia hesitated. She wasn't afraid of Regulus. If he'd wanted to hurt her or turn her over to the other Death Eaters, he wouldn't have broken her and Caradoc free from Malfoy Manor. But she wasn't sure if it would be safe for to be in Knockturn Alley, and she had no idea when Sirius would be done with his business. She didn't want to cause Sirius to panic if he came outside and she wasn't there waiting.

After carefully weighing her options and deciding that Regulus would try to talk with her in public if it weren't something important, she followed just a little into Knockturn Alley before he grabbed her arm, pulled her closer to him and muttered, "That's far enough, I think."

Olivia frowned, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp, but he didn't let go.

"Regulus, what's going on? What's wrong?"

His eyes were wild and frightened and she was worried he might strike her, but he just said, "I'm sorry, Olivia. I'm so sorry."

Her heart was racing. Was he turning her over? Had it all been an elaborate trap? Was he going to kill her on the spot out of some sort of mercy, so they couldn't catch her again?

But instead he whispered, "Tell him that I'm sorry. Tell him I wish I could have done more."

Him.

Him was Sirius, she was sure of it, but she didn't understand why, didn't know what was happening.

"Regulus-"

"I'm going to die soon, Olivia," he whispered. "I'm sure of it. I've... I've found something and I might end the war quicker this way... but I'll probably have to die."

Her heart was pounding.

People had died already, people she had known better than she knew Regulus, people who were better people than Regulus...

So why did she feel like it was so hard to breath? Surely his single act of kindness couldn't erase all the years he had just stood by and watched her being hurt, knowing it was wrong... Could it?

"Tell him I'm sorry, Olivia," he said desperately. "Please. I don't want to die without him knowing that I'm sorry. I... I didn't usually do the right thing by either of you and that was a mistake. There were a lot of things I should have done for both of you over the years. If you can ever forgive me-"

"I already have," she assured him, pulling him into a hug. She realized that it was true, she really had forgiven him. And even if she hadn't fully, she knew she would, and she might not get another chance to tell him if he was right and he was going to die.

"Olivia, please, I know your prophecy. I understand what has to happen to you, but make sure he understands. He'll do anything for you, anything, and I'd rather he didn't die for you. Please, just make sure he stays out of this mess. I don't want the last of the Black line ending up in the hands of the Death Eaters."

"Are you talking about Sirius?"

"No," said Regulus, looking around. "I'm talking about the child. She will be his, I'm certain of it. Keep her out of the conflict. If something happens to you before he knows, set up safeguards. Have your father take her. This isn't easy, Olivia, I understand..."

"Nobody has it easy these days," she said casually. "Oh, you know, Regulus, I still have something of yours."

He gave her a quizzical look from beneath his hood. She pulled a knife from underneath her cloak and pressed it into his hand. He looked down at it with a sad look.

"What were you planning to do with it, when I loaned it to you?"

"Honestly?" she said sadly. "I was planning to kill myself."

He nodded.

"I thought so. I'm glad Sirius stopped you. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have a brother anymore, I'm sure of it. He would have followed close after."

Suddenly, Olivia was aware of tears forming in her eyes. Regulus was aware of them too, because he hugged her tightly and whispered, "Be careful."

"I have to go," he whispered. "I have to go, and you need to get back to Sirius. Stay safe."

"Thank you," was all she could think to say. She kissed his cheek softly, thinking of how different he smelled from Sirius, but perhaps it was the scent of fear that was radiating off him in waves.

But before anything else could be said or done he slipped out of her reach, away down Knockturn Alley where Eva was probably waiting for him somewhere, and Olivia watched after him for no more than a moment. She wondered how soon he would be dying, if he died as he was so sure he would.

She turned and walked back toward her place on the wall in Diagon Alley wondering what was going to happen. She had gotten so used to having some idea or at least a good guess, but she didn't know what Regulus had been talking about her, and she didn't like that feeling.

Olivia made it to her spot, but when she looked in the window neither the shopkeeper nor Sirius was standing there. The discussion might be over, or they might have gone into the back to finish whatever they were doing. She looked around to see if they'd just moved in the shop.

But she spotted the shopkeeper then, helping another customer with a stack of books. She couldn't see Sirius, though, and she began to panic. Had something happened to him? Was he taken right out from under her nose?

She searched the faces of the sea of people going about their shopping, hoping he was okay but still not seeing him.

"Looking for me?" said his voice, right in her ear, full of anger.

She hardly processed the smell of anger coming off him or the tone of his voice, so thrilled she was that Sirius was all right.

"Sirius," she sighed with relief, turning to face him. "I was so worried; I thought something had happened to you."

"I know that feeling," he said in a low sort of growl, his gray eyes flashing. "I got out of the store expecting to see you waiting for me, and when you weren't where I left you I instantly began to panic, thinking something had happened to you. I thought you'd been kidnapped or even killed and that I had just left you unprotected because I was an idiot. I was debating whether to track you down or kill myself."

Olivia blinked.

"Sirius, I'm sorry, I was just-"

"Just down in Knockturn Alley with my brother? Don't worry, I saw. Care to explain that, Livia?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Could he really believe that she was doing anything but talking with Regulus?

"Sirius, I..."

What was she going to say?

"At first I thought I was going to have to get you before you got kidnapped again," Sirius snarled, "but then I saw you hugging and I thought maybe there's a reason you had your wand in your pocket when we came to rescue you last time. Something you want to tell me?"

She could hardly believe that he would think that of her, but she could only fault herself for not telling him what Regulus had said to her in the manor sooner.

"Sirius, do we have to do this in public?" she sighed. "Let's go home and I'll explain everything, but you know perfectly well there are things in this explanation that can't be talked about in public. All right?"

Sirius hesitated, looking around them, but finally he nodded, taking her hand and they Disapparated together to Sirius's house, and Olivia began to plan her plea.

"All right," Sirius snapped. "We're here. Now tell me what this is all about before I start throwing things."

He would do it, too. He didn't get angry with her very often, but if he were to believe that she had anything with her brother that would enough for him to absolutely snap. It was the sort of thing that she thought he might never forgive her for, if it had actually happened.

"Sirius, when I was in Malfoy Manor," she said slowly, "Regulus messed with Caradoc's torture for an excuse to interrupt Yaxley's attempt to rape me, to let me have a night of peace. He told me... he was... He said to tell you that he's sorry, that he made a mistake and he's terrified, Sirius. Anyway, he's the one who tipped you off, he's the one who gave us our wands, who helped you rescue us. He told me to take care of you, Sirius and he said that... he said that he couldn't let anything happen to me because he knew what it would do to you if you knew that... that..."

"Livia calm down," he whispered, and she realized she'd been hyperventilating. "You haven't explained today. What happened today?"

"He... he saw me and he wanted to... to make sure things were okay and... and to say goodbye," she whispered, looking up at Sirius with scared eyes. "He... he said he found a way out, a way to do some good, but he's convinced he's going to die. I... Sirius, I didn't know what to do, what to say. What do you say to that?"

Sirius swallowed hard, looking like he was going to be sick. He looked down at her with vacant eyes, and she could smell that he was anxious, terrified, and so horribly sad that she'd never smelt anything like it before.

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius muttered, hands shaking as he fell onto the sofa. "He's going to die, isn't he?"

Olivia hesitated.

"Isn't he, Livia?" Sirius demanded. "I know you know, don't you dare lie to me!"

Shaking with sobs, Olivia finally nodded, hugging her knees to her chest and feeling like she was going to be sick.

Maybe he'd been on the wrong side of things for a long time, but she'd never had anything against Regulus Black. He'd been a sweet enough boy, silent thought he might have been when he should have spoken up.

Sirius just sat there, shaking on the sofa as Olivia sat on the other side of the sofa, still clutching her legs desperately to her chest and sobbing into her knees.

This wasn't how she wanted to breech this conversation at all but Sirius's jealousy had left her with no choice. If they were already having so much difficulty talking to each other, how could they possibly talk about the prophecy? He would be so furious with her for keeping things from him. That was Sirius's way. And then he wouldn't apologize for being upset once he realized how hard it was for her to speak of it.

"I'm sorry," he finally whispered, his voice shaking. "I'm sorry I doubted you. I've... I get nuts when I think about losing you, Livia, you know that."

"I know," she said softly, looking down at her feet. "I know, Sirius. I wish you would just trust me, Sirius. If I left you I would tell you."

"Would you?" he whispered. "You didn't last time, love. Why should I trust that you would again?"

Olivia turned away from him, knowing he was just bitter about the news about his brother.

She just shook her head a bit, getting up and going to their room. Olivia curled up in their bed, turning her back to the door, wishing he would leave her be, but of course he couldn't. Sirius could be such a child when he was upset about things, and she didn't want him to keep taking it out on her. Maybe it was childish to be hiding from him, but she wanted him to work off his grief, so she just waited until she could smell calmer emotions coming from the other room.

The problem was, Olivia fell asleep, and when she awoke to kisses on the back of her neck she blinked her eyes open, confused.

Wasn't Sirius upset with her?

But he didn't smell upset with her. He smelled loving and apologetic and aroused. She moaned a little at that smell combined with his lips on her neck, which only made the smell a bit stronger.

"I was an idiot," he whispered, moving some of her hair out of the way. "But it's still Valentine's Day, beautiful, and I'm going to make it all up to you, I swear."

Olivia would have laughed if she wasn't sure that Sirius's nerves were still so raw. She certainly didn't mind that his hand was sliding across her stomach, reaching up for her breasts. The worst part about it was that she couldn't be mad at him when he smelled so good and touched her so gently. She wanted to be upset for how he'd treated her, but then his hand found its mark and he squeezed her breast lightly, drawing another moan from her lips.

Sirius got his way.

Sirius always got his way.

But oddly, Olivia found that she didn't mind.

That night when she made them dinner he smiled at her sleepily across the table and said, "Am I forgiven?"

Olivia sighed, chuckled slightly, and nodded.

How could he not be forgiven? He'd been so sweet, so gentle.

"I guess my problem is that you never apologized for how you treated me," she finally whispered, passing him some tea with his potatoes. "I mean, you apologized for jumping to conclusions, but not for how you treated me afterward."

Sirius nodded, picking at his potatoes awkwardly for a moment before saying, "I know. And I should have. And I know it's belated, but I am sorry."

Olivia just nodded, picking at her own potatoes for a moment before getting out some ranch salad dressing from the refrigerator and pouring it on the potatoes, which made Sirius's lips twitch with amusement.

"You do realize that's disgusting, don't you?" he said after a minute, watching her put the bottle back. "That's not what that stuff's for."

"What would you know?" she snorted back at him. "You never use it. I use it all the time."

"Yeah, on everything," Sirius teased.

It was true, Olivia put ranch on quite a few dishes, but not _everything_.

"So this isn't how I pictured our Valentine's Day," Sirius sighed, stirring a bit of sugar into his tea. "Us fighting, sex, one of our more basic dinners. I promised to spoil you, darling, and I failed miserably."

"No, you didn't," Olivia sighed. "The fight wasn't our worst, the sex was some of our best, and I happen to like this dinner, thank you very much. I did make it, after all. If I'd wanted something fancy I would have made something fancy."

He shrugged and said, "It's just that potatoes don't really put you in the mood."

"They're also not a well-balanced meal, but we love to eat them anyway," Olivia pointed out. "Your whining about how unromantic the day has been isn't doing wonders for putting me in the mood, either."

Sirius laughed.

Olivia wanted to sigh with relief, but instead she smiled at him as he laughed for the first time that day.

They didn't laugh as much as they should anymore between the war and the Order and the secrets. There was always something to be upset or anxious or afraid about and there wasn't much time to spare for fun and laughter. The only time either of them seemed to really laugh anymore was when he tickled her a bit during sex.

And Olivia had decided long ago that that really didn't count.

She reached across the table and laced her fingers in his, smiling a little at him. What else was there, after all? She knew she loved that he was laughing, even if it wasn't their most romantic holiday together. They might have a few more of those before...

Well, she hoped they would have a few more before she had the child that would end her life. She didn't want Sirius to remember this as their last holiday together and feel like he ruined it.

He would feel guilty enough.

After dinner they went to the sofa and curled up, just talking about anything but their day. There wasn't much available to them anymore as their lives were basically concerned with Order work, and neither of them much liked talking about that any more than they had to. So they talked about their friends, gossiping a little bit.

"I walked in on Lily and James kissing the other day," Sirius said in a guilty sort of voice. Olivia frowned. He smelled guilty, too. And he also smelled... aroused?

"Was that hot, Sirius?" Olivia teased, and he blushed.

Yes, apparently he liked watching other people kiss. Or at least, attractive people. She would have filed that away for later but Olivia was fairly certain that his jealous was far stronger than any arousing feeling he got from it.

"I think Lily might be trying to get pregnant," she said gently. "I don't know if they've talked about it yet, but Lily really wants kids, and did you know that her father passed away the other day?"

Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, James told me," he whispered. "Both parents in one year. What was it with her mother?"

"Heart attack," Olivia muttered. "They said her dad just gave up, got sick and gave up."

Sirius shook his head.

"Terrible. She was so close with her parents and now all she has left is that awful sister of hers. No wonder she's thinking about babies."

Olivia nodded.

But Sirius didn't bring up anything about wanting kids or about the possibility of their having kids and she held in a sigh of relief.

She really didn't want to die. Not yet. She didn't want to leave Sirius.


	42. Knowing the Wolf

**March, 1973**

Remus screwed up his eyes, trying to ignore the pain racking his body as the transformation began. He was turning back into a human again, which was better than the change into a werewolf. What was howls the night before, though, became shrieks of pain recognizable as human in the morning, however, which was why they called it the Shrieking Shack.

Well, that and the alliteration of the phrase.

When the agonizing process was completed he laid back on the floor of the shack, thinking of Olivia's smiling face.

It was his favorite thing to think of when transforming because it took away the pain a little bit.

He sighed with relief that it was over, pulling on the clothes that he'd put in the drawer, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to come back for him, heal him, and take him to the hospital wing to rest off the recovery.

Olivia would be sleeping, he knew, in his bed most likely.

Well, no, she would be sleeping in James's bed or Sirius's, but she would have his pillow, so he could almost convince himself that he didn't mind.

He was finding that he slept less easily without her in his arms as well.

It was a funny thing, how he felt he couldn't possibly live without her, especially as he knew that he'd been sleeping just fine before. But now that he had a sense of the intoxicating scent and feel of her skin, the way she fit so perfectly in his arms, the pleased look on her face as she slept beside him...

She was an angel. He knew that, and he laid on the bed, which was looking a bit worse for wear from whatever he'd done to it the night before, and he thought about how much he missed Olivia.

The hours passed without dozing. His body was still sore and he had a cut on his calf he wasn't sure how he acquired and what he was pretty sure was a bite mark on his left butt cheek from chasing his own tail, probably.

That was actually the greatest hazard of Remus when he was a werewolf. He wasn't likely to be biting any humans while safely holed up in the shack, but because there were no humans to bite he was violently trying to get out, to attack anything he could, which meant generally making a massive mess and attacking himself.

Still, sleeping potions and pain potions still worked for him, unlike Olivia, so he really didn't have much to complain about in that regard. What hurt most was the pained look on her face when she visited in the hospital wing, when she saw the fresh injuries, which took longer to heal than typical injuries because they were werewolf-inflicted. He didn't like seeing how upset she was by his injuries, even though there wasn't anything either of them could do, or maybe because there wasn't anything either of them could do.

Remus sighed, hearing the footsteps of Madam Pomfrey, there to collect him.

Not twenty minutes later he was lying a clean, warm, crisp cot in the hospital wing that his friends had named after him because it was always the one he was in while he was in the infirmary. The one beside it was named for Olivia, and James liked to joke that they were so perfect for each other because they had matching hospital beds.

Olivia thought it was funny, as did Sirius, but Remus didn't find it funny at all.

He hated feeling helpless when she was injured, just as he hated knowing that she felt helpless after the full moon.

"Drink this," Madam Pomfrey said, handing him his third potion of the day while she ran a variety of diagnostics, checking for internal injuries to his organs and minor fractures that might otherwise go missed until there was a more serious problem.

It didn't taste very good, but Remus knew what to expect. The potions never changed, and he knew their distinctive and unappetizing flavors by heart. Sometimes he could almost taste them just when someone mentioned one of them, or when he saw a label for one of them.

"I won't ever have Olivia's problem, will I?" he asked Madam Pomfrey. "These potions won't stop working for me, will they?"

"No, no you're fine on that regard," she said sadly. "I've talked with some experts on that, actually, and your condition precludes it... Something to do with how the blood changes during the transformation and cycle and whatnot. No, you'll be fine to take these potions in the appropriate doses for the rest of your life, Remus, which is actually a blessing. If you get frail or sick in your old age you won't have to worry about that sort of immunity."

Remus grunted, but he couldn't see much good about the idea of living to old age, spending decades changing into a monster month after month. But he didn't think it would go over well to say that out loud in front of a staff member. She would probably subject him to a mental evaluation and Remus didn't think that would be very enjoyable.

"Now, I'll just have an elf bring you up some breakfast," she said kindly. "Would you like your usual?"

"Yes, please," Remus said softly, politely.

That was one good thing about spending so much time in the hospital wing. He was there so much and Madam Pomfrey knew him so well that she didn't have to wonder what he wanted to eat or waste time asking him how he wanted his sheets turned down if his arm was injured, which it often was. She'd even memorized Olivia's schedule so that she gave them alone time as much as possible when Olivia visited, excepting when another student needed her attention, of course.

Madam Pomfrey liked Olivia, partly because she felt bad for her condition, partly because she thought that Remus and Olivia were a sweet couple.

Olivia didn't visit that morning, though. She probably didn't have enough time before classes, so Remus stared at the ceiling once he finished breakfast until he felt well enough to pull out one of his textbooks and do a bit of homework.

He wondered vaguely as he flipped through the potion's book for the proper references, which socks Olivia would be wearing, and if she would be wearing his cardigan instead of her own as she had taken to doing while he was sick. She said she liked that it smelled of him, like his pillow. Remus smiled a little to himself, scribbling down a bit about pickled bat spleens.

She would be sitting in Transfiguration, he decided as he flipped through some more pages. She would be sitting right in front of Sirius, who would be kicking her chair and tickling her ear with his quill to keep her amused.

If there was one thing about her closeness to Sirius that made Remus grateful was the way Sirius cheered her up around the full moon, preoccupying her with research on Animagi and silliness that only Sirius could pull off without Olivia flipping out. If even James had kicked her chair she would have blown him across the room angrily, but with Sirius she just smiled and shook her head a bit.

Part of him was jealous, though, no matter how grateful. The friendship she had with Sirius was the sort of thing Remus could never share with her, and even though she was Remus's and Sirius had Jiki Remus couldn't help but feel inferior and like he'd already lost something very, very essential.

He'd mentioned it once to James, who thought Remus was being silly, and again to Lily, who thought that the very idea that there was anything special at all between Olivia and Sirius was absurd.

But Remus knew better. He knew Olivia. He knew Sirius. He knew there was a way they understood each other that no one else was a part of, and he snapped his book shut just thinking about it, putting up his quill and tossing the book aside.

Remus took deep breaths to calm himself, crossing his arms behind his head and looking up at the ceiling, which Olivia had read somewhere helped people to calm themselves down.

Olivia was his, he reminded himself. Olivia was his and he was getting worked up over nothing.

So Remus managed to work himself down to calm again, but he felt completely out of the mood for doing homework, so instead he stared at the wall, counting little divots in the stone like he had done dozens of times, but never without losing count. The concentration took his mind off Olivia and Sirius and everything that was upsetting him, although he knew it wasn't solving anything, avoiding working through his problems like that.

But as he counted the divots he really didn't care. As long as he could stay calm while he waited for Olivia he would be fine.

/-/

Sirius had to talk Olivia into calming down enough to actually eat lunch.

"You're not going to see Remus on an empty stomach," he told her firmly. "What if your stomach growls? You know he'll feel guilty thinking he kept you from a meal. We don't want Remus feeling guilty for things out of his control, do we?"

"No," Olivia had admitted grudgingly, following Sirius, James, and Peter to lunch, eating a few sandwiches, and then looking at Sirius expectantly.

"Is that all you're eating?" he asked, surprised.

She just rolled her eyes at him.

Sure, for most anybody else three sandwiches would be a large meal, but for Olivia Cromwell it was more of a snack, so Sirius made a point of watching her as he finished his second sandwich. She didn't appear particularly hungry, but that could be her anxiety keeping her from realizing how much food she needed to be eating.

And she was anxious. Olivia was always anxious on the full moon, but for whatever reason she'd been shaking in her sleep the night before, and nothing he did to soothe her made anything any better.

Something was on her mind, but he didn't know how to find out what.

"Can we go now?" she said, tapping her foot impatiently.

James and Sirius had gotten her to agree not to go up to the hospital wing without someone to accompany her, worried that Yaxley would jump her in the corridor or whatever it is he felt suited his sinister, self-impressed ego.

"Yeah, hang on a minute," Sirius muttered. "Just let me grab some sandwiches to go."

"For Remus?" she asked, confused.

"For whoever's hungry," he told her, grabbing about four sandwiches.

Of course, he meant her, thinking that maybe when she'd seen Remus she'd calm down enough to realize she wanted more food.

She shrugged, maybe thinking he was going to eat them, or that he was going to split them with Remus, but he knew Remus would understand what they were for, and if he was well enough to be up to his usual level of perception he would insist that Olivia eat the sandwiches, or at least a couple of them. The boys could finish off the rest, Sirius was sure, but he wanted her to eat first.

Of all five of them, Olivia had the largest appetite by far.

"All right," he sighed, wrapping the sandwiches as best he could in a napkin and getting up, nodding to James and Peter, who opted to visit Remus later if at all. "C'mon, Livia. Let's get you up there before you pass out from an anxious fever or something."

She shot him a dirt look, but he knew that she was grateful. The possibility of her passing out was apparently remarkably high, although more likely from pain than anything else, as she was pretty much in a constant state of being in pain anymore.

He led her up to the infirmary, where Remus was staring at the wall.

"Hey, mate," Sirius sighed, sitting down on the end of the cot that they'd christened 'Mooney', which was Remus's nickname. Olivia sat on the bed beside Remus, snuggling into his chest carefully, not wanting to cause him any pain.

"How do you feel?" she whispered.

"A lot better now," Remus rasped with a weak smile.

Remus's voice was always a rasp after the full moon, but he regained it after a day or so of resting it. It was the howling and screaming in pain that took its toll, but Sirius never pointed it out. He never pointed out anything about Remus's pain, for Olivia's sake.

"Are those sandwiches?" he asked, looking at the napkin in Sirius's hand.

"Yeah, do you want one?" Olivia said softly.

Remus looked from the sandwiches to Olivia to Sirius, and when he looked in Sirius's eyes for a long moment he said, "Not unless you eat one too."

Olivia clicked her tongue with annoyance, but they both took a sandwich and ate them as they cuddled together. Sirius was actually rather proud of himself for thinking it would actually work to get her to eat more.

He simply watched as Olivia kept Remus occupied and thinking of things other than his experience by relating to him all of the inane chatter she'd picked up during the last couple of days from all the girls she talked to, and what she thought of the sweater Kurt Neuendorf had worn to class that morning that had gotten him a detention for dress code violation from Professor McGonagall.

"It was scarlet," she said. "I mean, it's not really a good color for him, but it was Gryffindor color. That ought to have counted for something. She at least shouldn't have taken off points."

"I quite agree," Remus said with a small smile.

"Well, of course you do," she said without even a blink of the eye before continuing on to rant about the way Kiki Sitzer had folded her socks that morning and how it was the latest crazy in Hufflepuff sock fashion that Olivia just couldn't understand. "I'm telling you, the calves some of these girls have really shouldn't be shown to the world. And anyway, socks aren't meant to be turtlenecks. They're not designed that way."

"No, they're not," Remus said slowly, shrugging at Sirius, who was trying very hard not to snigger.

"Kiki can pull it off, of course, because she's got those slim legs," Olivia continued, completely oblivious to the fact that the boys weren't even really listening to her, or to the fact that she'd eaten the other two sandwiches without even really thinking about it. Then she squeaked, causing both boys to jump and Sirius to reach for his wand.

But of course it was nothing serious.

"I forgot that I was going to meet Kiki and Jiki to study quickly after lunch!" she cried. "I love you, Remus, I'll be back tonight!"

And with a swift kiss on the cheek she was rushing out the door the way she'd come.

Remus and Sirius raised their eyebrows at each other, then began to laugh.

"I love it when she does that," Remus sighed. "I don't even know half of what she's talking about, but she looks so happy when she gossips. I like to see her happy."

"We all do," Sirius assured him.

And it was true. A happy Olivia was a vibrant, lovable girl that nobody Sirius knew of could resist. There were just so many reasons to keep her from being happy, lately, though, and seeing her unhappy broke Sirius's heart every time.

"How do you feel, truly?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged.

"Not bad," he said in a way that certainly seemed honest to Sirius. "The wounds take a while to heal, of course, but I've really only got a couple this time and there was no more serious damage than that. And Madam Pomfrey gave me a few potions for the pain and soreness, so I'll be okay." He paused for a moment, then asked, "How's Livia, truly?"

Sirius debated with himself for a moment over whether or not to tell him about how roughly she'd slept the night before.

"She's okay," Sirius said slowly. "She gets worried, but she's fine. She was really pleased to see that you look pretty good. You know how she gets."

"Yeah," Remus sighed. "I just really wanted to make sure she was okay before I showed you."

Remus pushed the bed sheets down and rolled up his pant leg a bit to show a rather large cut on his calf. Sirius winced.

"How did you get that one, mate?"

He shrugged.

"I'm not sure," Remus admitted. "I have a bite mark from chasing my tail, too. If I had to guess this is from a claw or something."

Sirius nodded, looking at the wound that he knew would take longer and more effort from Madam Pomfrey to heal than a usual wound would because Remus was a werewolf. He could see why Remus had hid it from Olivia, and said so as Remus pulled the sheets back up to his waist.

"She doesn't need to know," Remus said with a shrug. "She worries too much as it is. I hate worrying her."

So did Sirius, which was the only reason he agreed not to tell her about Remus's wound.

Because he should have told her, and Sirius knew it, but after seeing the way she'd smiled when she saw that Remus was okay, after knowing how upset she would be if she knew, Sirius couldn't bring himself to say a word of it to her.

And she didn't need to know, he told himself as he walked out of the hospital wing, strengthening his resolve to hide it from her. She didn't really need to know. She would be better off not knowing.

And so he sighed, rubbing his eyes to ride himself of the gory image just in case she'd somehow learned to read minds or something.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **_**Lizaluvsdoggies**_**, whose regular PMs give me the kick in the butt I need to actually write when I want to sleep.**

** -C**


	43. Course Selection

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my readers, all of you, especially the anonymous ones, who have yet to review. I'd like a review. Can I has one, please? Also, this story is up for the 2012 L&L genre awards on the forum for romance and hurt/comfort. If you think it deserves a reward, voting opens January 14 and goes to February. VOTE and tell all your friends.**

** -C**

**March, 1973**

Olivia was struggling to focus on her homework when the list of courses to take in the fall was taunting her.

It wasn't that she particularly cared what she was going to take. She knew she was going to be an Auror, so she really didn't have to waste her time on the extra classes, but her father had warned her in a letter not to disregard them.

For one thing, he had said, her friends would surely take a few, and she wanted to enjoy more time with her friends. For another, if she changed her mind about her career she wouldn't want to be completely barred from what she wanted to do. And finally, he absolutely required her to take Divination and there was no discussion about it. She would be taking Divination, and he'd already discussed this with Professor McGonagall, so there would be no worming out of it.

Olivia didn't have a problem with taking Divination. The professor was a bit odd, but he seemed nice enough.

The thing that bothered her was that her father was mandating her to take the class that no one took seriously and wouldn't even tell her why it was so important. He didn't keep secrets from her, and the very few times he had or had made her do something, she knew there was something important about it. She just couldn't see why it was so important for her to take Divination.

"Hey," Lily sighed, sitting down across from Olivia, Mary sitting down beside Olivia, Margery across from Mary. "You're early."

"Yeah, I needed to get away from the boys for a bit," Olivia muttered, rubbing her forehead agitatedly. "They keep betting who's going to be the first of our year attacked in Care of Magical Creatures."

"Attacked by what?" Mary asked nonchalantly.

Olivia shrugged.

Of course, it had been the giant squid they were talking about, but as she wasn't sure that the giant squid was even part of that class, and certainly not for third years, she figured she wouldn't open James and Sirius for more ridicule by Lily.

"What are you going to take?" Margery asked. "I'm trying to decide, but they all sound like so much work."

Olivia would have laughed at that, but she knew Margery was serious. She was a nice enough girl most of the time, albeit a bit shallow, but Merlin help them if that girl had to do anything that involved her brain at all. She was the one person Olivia really didn't want to have to duel other than Snape for the simple fact that she was afraid that Margery might do something by accident that could mistakenly kill them all. Nobody else had quite as much talent at messing things up spectacularly as Margery had.

"Not sure yet," Olivia admitted. "My father says I have to do Divination, but other than that I really haven't gotten any sort of idea what to do."

Lily frowned slightly.

"You have to do Divination?" she asked. "Isn't that a bit... Well, I meant that class isn't really thought of as... I mean to say that-"

"Divination is a bunch of ridiculous rubbish?" Mary said with a grin. "Yes, we know."

"I know," Olivia whispered. "But he said that I had to do it. I don't really understand. Apparently it's very important. He's already arranged for me to take it."

"Well, if you're taking it I might as well," Lily said reasonably. "I think I'm going to do Ancient Runes, too. It looks terribly interesting."

Mary and Olivia rolled their eyes. Nothing about Ancient Runes looked interesting at all to either of them, and they couldn't understand what the appeal was to Lily. Maybe Remus had mentioned he wanted to take it or something. She took Remus's opinion very seriously.

"I've gotten Professor McGonagall's permission not to take any extra classes," Mary admitted sheepishly. "I'm struggling enough in my required ones that she agrees I can't really afford to take on anything else."

"I think I want to do Care of Magical Creatures," Margery said thoughtfully. "And my mother wants me to take Muggle Studies. I could fit in Divination too. Don't you think?"

"I hope so," Olivia said brightly. "Then we could all be together! Well, except for Mary, of course."

There was a brief, awkward silence, and Mary said, "That's okay, guys. I don't need it anyway, and I don't think I want to have it to worry about on top of everything else. Maybe the boys will take it too!"

"Ugh, I hope not," Lily muttered. "I don't want to deal with it."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did," Olivia said slowly. "I mean, it's meant to be a laugh, and you know how James and Sirius love a laugh. And Peter could use an easy class."

"You don't think you could talk them out of it, could you?" Lily moaned. "I mean, the one person who wouldn't want to take it is Remus, although he might because of you, and he's the only one we'd actually want there!"

"Speak for yourself, Lily," Mary said with a laugh. "James can be a bear during practices, but otherwise I think he's rather entertaining."

Lily scowled rather unattractively and Olivia couldn't help but giggle. Sometimes Lily could be so stubborn about the stupidest things.

"I have to see the boys," Olivia said, checking Margery's watch. "I promised I'd meet them. Something they wanted to show me. I never know with those two. Then I'm off to meet with Professor McGonagall about my classes for next year. You don't think she'll expect me to really know, do you?"

The girls shrugged. It wasn't really helpful. They all seemed to know what they wanted to do and Olivia had no idea.

They boys were in the Charms courtyard waiting for her. Sirius and Remus were sitting on a ledge and James and Peter were on the ground at their feet, watching her approach.

"Signing up for classes this afternoon," Olivia muttered, sitting between Remus and Sirius. "I'm still not sure what to do. Have you guys figured it out?"

"Yes," Sirius said with a grin. "Well, actually, no. I know I want Care of Magical Creatures, but other than that I'm not sure. I've thought about Muggle Studies, but there's too many crazy birds in there."

"My mum says I have to take Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies," Peter squeaked. "I don't really have a choice."

"Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies," James said with a grin. "I don't mind the crazy birds, it's worth it to understand Evans better.

"What about you, Remus?" Olivia asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Arithmancy," he said slowly. "And Care of Magical Creatures. Why, have you not made up your mind yet?"

"No," Olivia admitted. "I haven't got a clue what I want to do yet. I have to take Divination, that much is certain."

"I'll take that, then," Sirius and Remus said in unison, grinning at each other.

"What was it you wanted me to come here for, then?" she asked with a sigh.

"We think we've found a new passageway," Sirius said excitedly. "C'mon, it's on the fourth floor."

Olivia followed them all to the fourth floor where there was a large mirror. She laughed as they showed her how to get behind it, where there was a very large passageway.

"Where does it lead?" she asked.

"Dunno, we wanted to wait for you to find out," James said.

Remus cleared his throat.

"All right, Remus wanted to wait for you to find out," James admitted. "You're here now, so let's go!"

She laughed again, following them as they lit their wands and walked up the passageway, heading toward whatever was along the passage.

They were walking for what seemed like forever when Peter asked, "Where do you think we are?"

"Judging by the damp earth," Olivia said slowly, "I would guess we're probably under the lake. I don't know how stable this passage is, James. I want to go back."

"But-"

"Please."

James was a bit pouty about it, but Sirius and Remus got on bored with Olivia when she reminded them that they had to be back not too long from then to meet with Professor McGonagall about their classes.

She held Remus's hand in the semi-darkness, and he squeezed it tightly, leading her along the passageway. When they got to the end of it, Olivia frowned down at herself.

"What's wrong, Livia?" Sirius asked.

"I look terrible," she whined. "Look, I'm all muddy and my clothes look... ugh. I need to change."

"Why?" Peter squeaked as she led the way back to the common room.

"Because, Peter, I can't see McGonagall looking like this!" she cried. "I look dreadful!"

"Oh, shut up, you look fantastic as always, Livia," Sirius sighed. "C'mon, though, she's right about the mud. Minnie McG wouldn't take well to us tracking mud into her office, now, would she?"

"Minnie McG?" James said, amused. "I like it. It's perfect."

Olivia rolled her eyes. The last thing they needed was to start nicknaming the teachers things that could get them a month's worth of detentions if they slipped up and started using the nickname at inappropriate times. And that was likely, because there was hardly anything appropriate about James or Sirius. They had no filter between them.

Still, she had to admit, she liked the sound of it. Sure, it was a slippery slope, but just being friends with the Marauders was a pretty slick slope. She liked them because they were a bit... well... zany. It would be absurd to try and censor that when they weren't actually hurting anyone.

They reached the common room and Olivia gave Remus a quick kiss, running up to her dormitory, where she quickly cleaned her shoes and changed her clothes, brushing her fingers through her flawless hair unnecessarily. She adjusted her tie and checked the clock beside Lily's bed.

She had fifteen minutes to get to McGonagall's office.

Quickly, Olivia rushed downstairs to find Sirius there, who would be the person directly ahead of her in line.

"You look lovely today, Livia, if I do say so myself," Sirius said with a small, ridiculous bow. "Mind if I accompany you?"

She giggled, taking the arm he offered her and allowing him to walk quickly with her all the way to McGonagall's office.

"You don't think we'll be late, do you?" Olivia asked nervously.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Sirius shrugged. "It's not likely, and even if we are, what more can she expect from Marauders? At least we'll be close to on time. That's got to count for something."

Olivia could do nothing but laugh in agreement, and they came to a halt in front of Professor McGonagall's office just a few moments later. Sirius checked his watch and said, "We're good."

They looked at each other, waiting, and after a few moments the door opened and out stepped Noemi, who was smiling at them.

"She's ready for you, Sirius," the girl said kindly. "Are you all right, Livia? You look out of breath."

"We thought we were going to be late," Olivia explained as Sirius went into the office and closed the door. "We rushed the whole way here."

"Oh," Noemi replied. "Well, I've got to go. Margery wanted a full report before she comes to her own meeting. Good luck, Livia!"

"Thanks, see you!" Olivia said, shuffling her feet nervously as she waited. After several minutes, Neil Dejong showed up, who was set to go after her. He'd brought a whole sheaf of parchment, and Olivia tried not to look at it with amusement. Maybe he thought he would look more impressive if he brought his seven-year plan along.

Sirius stepped out a few moments later and he winked at her.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, dear," he said. "Want me to wait, or...?"

"You go ahead," she replied, shaking her head. "Lily will be here when I get out. She'll want me to wait with her. I'll come back to the common room with her, all right?"

"Sounds good," Sirius said with a shrug. "Good luck."

Olivia then stepped into the office and closed the door behind herself, sitting in the chair Professor McGonagall gestured to across from herself.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cromwell."

"Good afternoon, professor."

Professor McGonagall adjusted her spectacles and looked over the parchment in front of her.

"Your father wrote me about your schedule already. It seems he's insisting that you take Divination at the very least. It has been added to your schedule."

"Yes, professor," Olivia said softly. "He told me he'd done that."

"You have no objections?"

Olivia shifted her feet.

"I, erm, was under the impression that it wasn't exactly optional," Olivia explained. "When I met the Divination professor last Christmas, too, he seemed very certain I would be in his class. I don't mind. I have friends who'll be taking it."

Professor McGonagall nodded and said, "Anything else, dear?"

"Well, I'd like to take Care of Magical Creatures..."

With that, Professor McGonagall nodded, but she winced as well. She obviously mentally pitied the professors who would have both Olivia and Sirius in their classes. Olivia had to admit, it didn't probably bode well for any class that had two or more Marauders in it, but she thought that she could at least try to keep Sirius in check, especially with Remus's help.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall said. "I'm putting that down. Do you have a third choice? Something you'll need for a career perhaps, or...?"

"I, erm, hadn't really thought about it," Olivia admitted. "I've got no real career goals. I guess I should probably keep my options open, but I don't really know... I don't know what that means."

"I expect you won't have too much trouble finding a job," Professor McGonagall admitted. "After all, you do have the Cromwell name and you are one of the brightest witches Hogwarts has seen in quite some time."

"Thank you, professor," Olivia said, a bit confused, wondering why Professor McGonagall was telling her this. After all, she had never really expected to hear that she was anything special. It was that sort of thing that had swelled Sirius and James's heads about six times the size they ought to have been. Olivia wasn't exactly... modest, but at least she was better off than that pair.

Professor McGonagall frowned slightly, looking down at Olivia's file thoughtfully. She was probably thinking of what to recommend.

"You know," she finally said, "I think you ought to take Arithmancy. Your parents were both star students in it, and I expect you'll have the same gift. It's a very good course, helps with all manner of jobs, and would be especially good for a resume being presented to anything in banking or the Ministry. Very respectable careers, all."

Olivia didn't know how to explain that she wasn't her father and didn't want or need a respectable career, that she could be very happy simply living on her inheritance, so she just sat there for a moment. Then she recalled that Remus had said that he wanted to take Arithmancy, so she nodded and said, "Of course, professor, that sounds excellent."

Did equations really sound excellent? Of course not, but Olivia knew it would make her father pleased that she was taking something useful, she could spend time with Remus, and she wouldn't have to listen to Professor McGonagall go on about wasted potential as Olivia got the strange feeling the woman would have done had she said she simply wanted to take the two courses she was already signed up for.

Professor McGonagall marked her down for Arithmancy and said, "You're free to go."

It felt a bit strange, being free to go after spending all day panicking over that short space of time that had just passed. Olivia stood smoothed her skirt, and stepped out to let Neil know it was his turn. When he went inside the room with his sheaf of parchment, Olivia turned to Lily.

"How was it?" Lily squeaked.

"Fine," Olivia admitted. "A lot less scary than I thought it'd be."

"What did you decide on?" Lily asked anxiously.

"Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Arithmancy."

"Oh, we'll be in Arithmancy together!" Lily said excitedly. "That's wonderful!"

"With Remus as well," Olivia said, smiling. "I think we'll have a lot of fun studying."

As if equations could be fun. Lily seemed relieved at any rate, so Olivia didn't regret the little white lie about fun. Maybe they would have fun, the three of them.

They waited in silence for Neil to finish, and Lonnie showed up a few minutes before Neil got out of the office.

"She's ready for you, Lily," Neil said kindly, looking a bit stunned.

Perhaps he'd asked to take everything and was turned down. Olivia watched his retreating form wishing she could have listened in on that meeting.

Lily got to her feet, smoothed out her skirt, and walked stiffly into the office, closing the door behind her. Olivia turned away from Lonnie, not wanting to make his life awkward by bringing the Marauders into the picture. Instead she closed her eyes, leaned her head against the stone wall and waited for Lily to finish in her meeting.

Olivia wondered what it would be like, being a third year. So many more privileges, so many more classes... The real school would begin then, and Olivia could feel her stomach twisting with nervous excitement.


	44. Caged

**April, 1973**

When they got back from Easter holiday, which the Marauders spent at Peter Pettigrew's house, classes were starting to stress the importance of the upcoming exam period, but Olivia was finding it hard to study. Her friends wanted to study together in their dormitories or common room, if they were studying at all, and Olivia felt the urge for a change in study scenery to stress to her brain the importance of the information she was cramming into it.

"I don't like the idea of you going to the library alone," Remus admitted at one point. "Sirius and I think..."

"Sirius is not my keeper," Olivia snapped. "If he wants to make sure I'm not alone he can bloody well study with me."

In truth, Olivia wasn't particularly keen on walking alone to the library, either. For some reason, she always had the feeling she was being watched. Olivia sat down in the library as always, opening her Charms book and trying to decide if she actually wanted to study the material at all, or if she wanted to work on something else. She knew where the books on human transfiguration were... She could take a few moments to grab a few, read them during breaks... Maybe she could find something helpful...

She could feel her vision going blurry, though, as she made to stand up, and when she sat down again things went clear.

Olivia thought that was odd, but when she made to stand up again she felt dizzy and blurry all over again, and she found herself sinking back into the chair. Maybe she should just study her Charms after all. She could deal with the Animagus studying a different day.

She pulled the book closer, poring over it, trying to retain every morsel of information as she flipped through the pages anxiously. Maybe she should have brought her Potions book. That seemed like it would have been a better use of her time.

But she tried to stand again to go get it and she felt dizzy once more, so she sat down again, wondering if she shouldn't call for Madam Pince to take her to the hospital wing. What if she passed out that night when going back to her dormitory?

Olivia tried to forget about it, though, focusing on her Charms as she turned to the last chapter in the book, desperate to finish before curfew. Only a few more minutes and Madam Pince would be walking by to clean up and tell her to get back to her dormitory.

Only a few more...

It was one of those moments Olivia wished she had a watch because she was fairly certain that she was fairly certain that the library should be closed. She became concerned that something had happened to Madam Pince. Ignoring the pounding and spinning in her head, Olivia got up and headed toward the front of the library, saying Madam Pince's name as she went, with no response. The room seemed too dark in the rest of it. Something was wrong.

And then Olivia felt the floor come up to meet her as the world went black.

/-/

Remus was more than a little surprised when Lily came and sat down beside them at breakfast, concern all over her features.

"Did Olivia sleep in your room last night?" she asked. "She never came back to ours and I was hoping it was because she went straight to yours when she got back from studying."

Remus blinked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"What do you mean she didn't come back?" Sirius said anxiously. "She didn't come to our room, she'd be here if she had. Where the hell did she go?"

"Calm down, Sirius," Remus said gently. "I'm sure everything's fine. Let's go talk to Dumbledore. Maybe she was taken ill and is in the hospital wing or something. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"She's been a bit off since Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup," James said thoughtfully.

"No, James, that's you," Remus said, trying very hard not to roll his eyes as the five of them went up to the teacher's table and Professor Dumbledore frowned at them, standing.

"What seems to be the matter?" he asked them, blue eyes completely without sparkle.

"Excuse me, professor," Lily said politely, but with worry filling her voice. "But Olivia seems to be missing. She didn't come back from the library last night and we don't know what's happened."

"Come with me," he said, gesturing for Professor McGonagall to join them as they made their way to his office. The five students shifted uncomfortably, still more than a little bit worried about their missing friend.

"What's happened, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously. "Something else?"

"I understand now why someone attacked Madam Pince last night," he said heavily. "Olivia Cromwell is missing, unreturned from the library last night."

"Oh, Albus," Professor McGonagall said nervously. "What do you think happened? Do you think she's all right? What do we tell her father?"

Remus could feel his heart racing as they looked around at each other, trying to decide what to do.

"Contact her father, tell him exactly what we know. He might have heard something, but..."

"You doubt it," Professor McGonagall asked?

Professor Dumbledore sighed.

"I do. We will have to figure out where she is soon. There's no telling what's been happening to her in the hours she's been missing."

Remus felt himself getting sick to his stomach as he thought about what might be happening to Olivia at that very moment.

"What can we do, professor?" Sirius said urgently.

"Her father will likely be here quite a lot while we're waiting," Professor Dumbledore. "It would be good if you could visit him regularly."

"Of course," they chorused.

Remus excused himself while the rest of them talked over what might have happened to Olivia to vomit at the nearest toilet. As he wiped his chin with the back of a shaking, clammy hand, he realized that it was happening again. It was Voldemort again, and he might never see Olivia alive ever again.

/-/

She woke up in a musty room she didn't recognize with her wrists chained to a wall and her face bleeding. Everything hurt about a million times more than she could ever remember. The worst part was, Olivia couldn't seem to remember how she'd gotten into the position she was in. She remembered the library and feeling terribly, but after that it was blank. She didn't even think she'd picked up her Charms book or her bag on the way out, which was horribly neglectful of her. But where was she?

"Comfortable?" said a high-pitched, disgustingly familiar voice from her left.

Voldemort moved out in front of her, his red eyes boring into her and Olivia shrank back as close to the wall as she could get.

"Not particularly," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "Where am I?"

"Somewhere not even Dumbledore will find you. That's all you need know," he said calmly. "Somewhere your little friends will be able to find you, either. We don't want a repeat of last year, now do we?"

Olivia set her jaw in an effort to not completely and totally panic. He was smirking down at her with his hideous, noseless face, touching her chin so that she was forced to look directly up into his ferocious red eyes.

"Yaxley did well in handing you over to me," he said softly, his voice grating at her ears. "He will be rewarded as soon as he is done with this year of school. He will be brought here to fulfill his duty right away. We have no time to waste, after all."

"What are you talking about?" she hissed.

He merely smirked at her.

"Patience, Miss Cromwell. All will be revealed in time. You know, it's really a shame that my body is no longer capable of doing the task itself. My own genetics are far superior to Yaxley's, but that is the sacrifice for greatness. I think your own blood will outweigh any inferiority in his."

Blood? Genetics?

Olivia began to hyperventilate.

Suddenly, what they were going to do with her seemed remarkably albeit confusingly clear. She knew what they were going to do, even though she still didn't know why. And the most horrifying part of it was she couldn't see any way out this time.

It was still over a month until Yaxley would be there because he had to take his O.W.L.s, but once that terrible wait was over, Voldemort's plan would be put into place...

Yaxley would be set about the task of, for whatever reason, impregnating Olivia Cromwell in some strange room in some strange place while she was chained to a wall. Because for whatever reason, they wanted a child with her blood, and all Olivia could think about was how absolutely sick and pained she felt.

And then she fainted again.

/-/

Sirius was pacing the floor. He knew his cousin had something to do with Olivia's situation, but there was no way to get it out of her. Bellatrix... Bellatrix had been furious with him when he spent the summer at Olivia's house, it had been determined that he would be spending this summer at home so that any 'damage' done by his Gryffindor friends throughout the time he'd been away could be undone.

But he didn't care where he was anymore, as long as Olivia was okay. But she wasn't okay. She was a prisoner somewhere and he couldn't stand thinking of anything else.

"She's going to be all right," James said softly as Sirius continued pacing. "She's Olivia. She has to be all right."

"What if it's cold?" Sirius whispered. "What if they're hurting her? What if we don't find her? What if she can't sleep? What if-?"

"There's nothing you can do about it so why don't you sit down and chill out?" James looked really worried, but Sirius knew it wasn't about Olivia, exactly. It was about Sirius.

Since they'd realized she was missing, Sirius hadn't eaten, had barely slept, and sat through class staring at his desk in silence.

"Anyway, McGonagall wants to see you. Something about your recent behavior."

Sirius shivered, going out of the dormitory without a word, through the common room, and out to the corridor, following the path to Professor McGonagall's office without really thinking about where his feet were carrying him.

When he finally reached it he knocked.

"Enter."

Sirius sat down across from her emptily, remembering vaguely that the last time he'd done so, Olivia had been right outside in the corridor.

"Have a biscuit, Black."

He looked up at her curiously.

Had she really just said that or had he been hearing things?

He looked at the biscuit tin being pushed at him. He grabbed one and began nibbling on it.

"I understand that you're upset about what's happening," she said, speaking as gently as anything he'd ever heard from her. "In light of this, I'm letting you and Mr. Lupin take time out of classes until things have been sorted out. You can spend time with Mr. Cromwell, if that's all right with you."

"Thank you, professor," he said softly.

It wouldn't really be much of a consolation, sitting in a room with two other guys who couldn't cope with Olivia's disappearance, but he certainly wasn't doing anyone any good in class.

And Sirius left her office, nibbling on his biscuit all the way back to the common room, back up the stairs to the dormitory where he began to pace once more as he nibbled on his biscuit, his fears still burning like a wildfire in his stomach as he thought about all of the horrible things that could be happening to her at that very moment.

And James just watched, no questions, no words, just watching as Sirius continued to wear out the carpet.

/-/

Olivia opened her eyes, feeling someone watching her as she returned to consciousness, and she saw Bellatrix, Sirius's cousin, looking down at her with a sneer. Someone Olivia didn't know the name of was sitting next to Bellatrix, and Olivia just prayed this unknown person would keep the insane woman in check.

"Sleep well, princess?" Bellatrix spat at her face.

"No," Olivia replied calmly. "Yourself, Bellatrix?"

"Just fine, you little brat," Bellatrix growled, and the man frowned.

"Calm down, Bella. You know the Dark Lord doesn't want her hurt."

Bellatrix stormed out of the room, probably to tell Voldemort that Olivia was awake, and the man and Olivia stared each other down.

"You know why you're here," the man said.

"More or less," Olivia said with a shrug. "Who are you?"

The man smiled a little, and if he hadn't been a Death Eater Olivia might have found that smile almost comforting.

"Better if you don't learn names," he said gently. "I bet you're not terribly comfortable."

"What was your first clue?" she snorted.

"You know, you could try playing nice a bit," he said with another smile. "You might get out of those chains. If nothing else, it would drive Bella insane."

Olivia frowned.

"Why are you trying to help me?" she asked. "What are you getting out of this?"

"Me?" he asked, still grinning. "I like watching Bella squirm. That, and I've got a little girl. Well, she's a fair bit older than you now, but when I look at her I still see her about your age. And I don't like the look of you chained to that wall. Just trust me on this. You seem bright. It's not like you're getting out of here, anyway."

"Fair enough," she muttered, looking up when Voldemort and Bellatrix walked into the room.

"Ah, I see you're making friends, Olivia," Voldemort said, his voice just as eerily high and cold. "That's very good. Is she planning on playing nice?"

"I certainly think so," the man she still didn't really know said.

"Very good," Voldemort said, sitting down across from her. "I know you're not particularly fond of Yaxley, Olivia, but I did promise him, and he's served so very faithfully."

"He has," Olivia conceded.

Well, it wasn't a lie. Voldemort's red eyes widened slightly.

"It seems you might have learned your lesson," Voldemort said with a curve of his lips that was too terrifying to be called a smile, and too gleeful to be a sneer.

She bit her lip, knowing she had very little time to make a very important decision. Play nice, less pain, possibly find a way out, or stay in the chains, hold her line, and maybe have the same results.

At her age, she figured that a few nights in a bed were worth the lies.

"I... Will..." she actually blushed and looked down at her toes. "Will it hurt?"

Bellatrix gasped. Voldemort and the man were looking at her, pleased, when she looked up shyly.

"Bellatrix, answer the girl," Voldemort said, his voice filled with glee. "And get her out of those chains."

/-/

"It's going to be okay," Mr. Cromwell said as Sirius paced and Remus picked at a blank piece of parchment until he'd reduced half of it into tiny, rolled balls that he flicked at Sirius. "She'll be all right, boys."

"We don't know that," Sirius said for the third time that day. His voice did a poor job concealing the panic rising up in him. "What if she's... what if...?"

"You've exhausted just about every possibility, Sirius," Remus sighed, flicking another tiny ball of parchment at him. "Just shut up."

Remus needn't have said it, because just then Professor Dumbledore moved into the room looking all business and the whole room when eerily silent.

"No news," Professor Dumbledore said to begin with, holding up a hand. "I wanted to check in with you, see if there were any developments in this room."

"Forgive me, Professor," Remus said politely, "but how could we have developments were you don't?"

Professor Dumbledore sat down.

"Have you noticed that when she is distressed, Olivia can say things from across a room, a different part of the castle, and you hear her as though she were right next to you?"

The boys exchanged nervous looks. They'd not said a thing. How could anyone have known?

"It is a gift her mother and grandmother had, as well," Professor Dumbledore said gently. "It's very rare, and I do not know how developed it is at this point, but if she is capable of accidentally contacting anyone in a moment of stress it is likely to be one of you three. That is why I came to see if you had any news."

"None, sir," Sirius said, although he seemed more relaxed then he'd been just minutes ago.

If Olivia was in real, eminent danger, they would know.

Probably.

"Let me know if you do," Professor Dumbledore said softly. "I know this is a very stressful time for us all, but we _will_ find her. I imagine it's only a matter of time."

"We may not have time, Professor," Remus said softly.

"I think we'll have at least a month," Professor Dumbledore said cryptically, "but I'm hoping for another day at best. You'll see, Mr. Lupin. Miss Cromwell will not be away from Hogwarts long."

Sirius and Remus exchanged another look, clearly wanting to ask Professor Dumbledore not to make promises he couldn't keep, but they said nothing, just watching the headmaster walk back out of the room.

"She's okay," Sirius muttered to himself. "She's okay."

"Probably," Remus muttered. "She's probably okay."

Sirius began pacing again and Mr. Cromwell grabbed the half-sheet of parchment Remus had yet to do anything with, balled the whole thing up, and tossed it deftly at Sirius's head, hitting him squarely on the nose.

"Ack, Remus!" Sirius squawked.

"Not me," Remus laughed. "Livia's dad."

"Just sit down, Sirius," Mr. Cromwell chuckled. "It's just a matter of waiting, and if you wear a hole in the stone floor I'm going to have to explain it to the school, and I'd rather not."

They laughed, set up a game of Exploding Snap, and tried not to think about Olivia.


	45. Victims of the Future

**March, 1979**

Olivia was off missions for a bit, mostly for her own safety, although nobody would come right out and say it to her in those words. She didn't mind exactly, she just didn't like the idea that maybe there were people in the Order who thought she couldn't cut it.

But then she thought about Marlene and Dorcas, two people who would never be there to greet her at headquarters ever again, and Caradoc whose life had been put in extra danger by her presence on a mission with him.

So she didn't argue when she was told that she got some time off mission work.

In truth, Olivia was always pleased when she and Lily got to spend quality time alone together. Their significant others were off on a mission, and so Lily poured some wine to wash down the dinner they'd just had and Olivia tucked her feet under herself, leaning back in James's favorite chair.

"It's nice to have just the two of us," Olivia sighed, accepting the wine and watching Lily sit down as she took the first sip.

White Zinfandel. One of her favorites.

"I confess, I love James," Lily said with a shake of the head, "but I miss girl time!"

They both giggled a bit, taking long sips of the wine before talking again.

"It's a bit strange, though, doing this outside of school," Olivia said softly, looking down at her half-empty glass. "Nothing to gossip about. Our lives have become the Order, and that's not really a fit subject for girls' night. What do you think the boys talk about when they get together?"

Lily shrugged.

"Sex if it's James and Sirius," she said slowly. "I think most of the time when they're all together they just drink until only Remus knows what they did the following morning."

Olivia sighed.

"That sounds lovely," she said, taking another long drink. "What do you do when James is off and you're by yourself?"

"I clean," Lily said with a wince. "I clean and I read when I get tired of cleaning. There's nothing else to do, really. What do you do when Sirius is gone?"

"I get visitors," Olivia said with a shrug. "I invite people over. Technically, I'm not supposed to be alone anyway. My daddy comes sometimes," she added with a smile. "He likes to see how Sirius and I are doing."

Lily smiled sadly.

"Do you think Sirius is going to propose?" she finally asked, watching Olivia carefully.

Olivia sighed.

"Lily, you know I can't-"

"Pish-posh," Lily pressed. "Your father and Albus would say the same, and you know it. If Sirius knows, if he accepts the responsibility, wouldn't it be what was best for the child? It worked for your parents..."

"I wasn't that child," Olivia whispered. "And I lived my whole childhood in seclusion."

"That's going to have to happen with your child anyway," Lily reasoned with a shrug. "Wouldn't you rather that seclusion was spent with her loving father?"

It was a valid point, but every time Olivia pictured the danger Sirius would be in, knowing, she couldn't help but think that there were places her daughter would be just as safe, places where Sirius might not be in harm's way.

Part of her knew it was completely unreasonable, but she couldn't help but want Sirius as safe as imaginable.

"It's complicated," she finally muttered, taking a long drink of wine.

Lily shrugged and said, "You know, your response and thoughts aren't going to keep him from proposing. And he might do it, you know. I saw him looking at my ring the other day."

It was Olivia's greatest fear, Sirius finally feeling more of the pressure and his own desire and ignoring the fact that Olivia clearly didn't want to talk about marriage or children or anything related to it, and propose.

Sirius proposing.

As she took another long drink of wine she wondered what that would look like, what it would feel like. He'd probably take her somewhere on his motorbike, maybe to her family's land, wine and dine her, say all sorts of sweet and sappy things like he was trying to get her into bed, and then get down on a knee, pop the question, and tell her he couldn't picture his life without her.

Her heart fluttered a bit at the thought, but she pushed it away quickly. She couldn't afford to get sappy at the thought of Sirius wanting to be with her for the rest of their lives.

Because the promise of till death was such a short promise, one she couldn't allow herself to make in a moment of sentiment.

"Do you honestly think he would?" she finally asked Lily, who was watching her sadly.

"Absolutely," Lily whispered. "I don't think you really put enough store by how much he loves you. You should have seen him when you weren't speaking to him, Livia. He was absolutely pitiful."

"And just imagine after I'm dead if we're still together," Olivia growled.

She really didn't want to listen to reason at this point. To her, keeping Sirius safe was reason, and everything else was just sentiment. He would be better if he had time to get over her and stay safe, and if that meant never knowing that she was still in love with him, so be it.

"There is something I can do," she said slowly. "I promise that if he and I and my child are all safe a year after I give birth, I'll meet with him and I'll tell him everything. Then we can decide where to go from there. I won't have long to live after that anyway, so he'll be able to take the child, if he wants to."

"Shouldn't you do it a bit sooner?" Lily said nervously. "I mean, what if he needs time to work through things? What if he doesn't have enough time?"

Olivia just shrugged, but she heard the sound of Sirius's motorbike and she pulled out her wand, like Lily, waiting for the boys.

"It's us, girls," James said from the other side of the door.

"Prove it," Lily said, her voice shaking.

"Lily," Sirius said with a bark of laughter, "who else would walk up to your house and assume you were having a girly night?"

"He's right," Olivia muttered, rolling her eyes, putting away her wand, and opening the door, letting in the boys. Sirius kissed her forehead and closed the door behind her, giving her a wink before the four of them headed back to the kitchen.

"We outran some Death Eaters," James said proudly, pouring some firewhiskey for the pair of them. And saved the lives of some Muggle police."

"Seriously?" Lily said, eyes wide as she looked at Olivia, who just shrugged.

"Yep," Sirius said happily. "Hey, Livia, if we have a kid, can we name it Elvendork?"

Olivia felt like she was going to be sick. She gave a forced laugh and said, "Sirius, no child should ever be cursed with such a terrible name."

James, too, had lost some of the brightness in his face at Sirius's question, looking at Olivia and trying to figure out how she was going to deal with the whole situation.

She just swallowed and sat down, watching his face turn to confusion at the tension that suddenly settled in the room.

"Firewhiskey, Livia?" James asked. She shook her head.

"You feeling okay, love?" Sirius muttered, kissing her forehead again.

"Just tired," she lied, curling up against him. "So tell us about the whole chase."

Sirius brightened instantly, recounting their adventure, outrunning police and Death Eaters, and saving the Muggles from the Death Eaters.

"And then we came home to our beautiful women," Sirius finished, kissing the side of Olivia's head.

"Didn't you just," Lily said with a smile, taking a drink of wine.

This time, Olivia saw it too. Sirius's eyes went straight to Lily's hand, looking at the ring on her finger. After a moment of looking, he turned to Olivia, laced his fingers in hers, and kissed her hand, just above where a ring would go. She wanted to run away, but she just smiled at him.

"I love you," he whispered, perhaps not thinking about the fact that James and Lily were right there, or perhaps just not caring.

Olivia blushed. He had that look in his eyes that almost always meant he wanted to be alone with her.

But until she figured out how she would stave off any possible attempts to marry her, she wasn't going to give in to that look.

"Oh, go on, then, James," she said, frowning at her empty wine glass. "Why don't you pour me a bit of firewhiskey?"

James complied and she didn't have to look at Sirius to know he was hurt at her lack of reaction to his come-ons. She let him pull her onto his lap to appease him while she drank her firewhiskey.

Sometimes, Olivia wished that she could not smell emotion. This was one of those times, smelling Sirius's love and affection and confusion and hurt all rolled into one, and smelling the concern of Lily and James.

She sighed, downing the rest of her firewhiskey.

She would need to have time alone with Sirius after all, to sort things out and placate him. She couldn't stand it when he smelled this way.

"Thanks, James," she said, pushing the cup away. "Wish we could have had more time, Lily, but since these boys were quick about their work..."

"Go ahead," Lily said with a smile. "Merlin knows we never have enough alone time these days."

Even with Sirius so eager to get her alone, it took forever as always to say all of their goodbyes and leave the Potter house, heading back to London in an instant and climbing the steps of Sirius's house.

He stopped her just inside the doorway, closing the door behind him.

"I love you," he whispered, pulling her close to him and kissing her.

When she did not pull away his fear began to dissipate and Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck. Sensing his emotions along with her own in moments like this was intoxicating, and it made it even harder to keep the distance she needed.

Olivia could taste the firewhiskey in his kiss and she hardly noticed as he pressed her against the wall. She moved her mouth down to his neck, refreshing the mark. He moaned, tangling his fingers in her hair.

She loved doing this, not only because she loved the look of her mark on his neck, but also because she loved the emotions he had when she marked him. It was like a drug for both of them.

He pulled away after a few moments, heat in his eyes, and she didn't even have to look where she was going as he led her to their bed. She knew the pathway so well that she felt confident just watching the burning in his gray eyes. He closed the bedroom door behind them, not that he needed to. It was more a habit they got into. And if her father ever decided to make a surprise visit, it wouldn't exactly hurt.

"I've missed you so much," he muttered, kissing her neck. "Every minute not with you was like...like..."

"I know," she sighed. "We're together now, Sirius. That's what matters."

Except it wasn't. But the thought left her mind as he pulled her into bed, eyes burning, every motion like a carefully choreographed dance. She tried not to let it bother her that every other word out of his mouth was a murmur of how much he loved her, that every scent radiating off his body was pure love and devotion.

She would end up breaking his heart, and she didn't want to think about the mess she would leave in her wake. She just wanted to hold him, and to be held.

When they were tangled up skin on skin in their sheets, Sirius continued to kiss her neck and shoulders. Her fingers tangled lazily in his soft raven locks.

"I love you," he sighed. "When we have children, I want every one of them to look like you."

Olivia's fingers tightened in his hair, her eyes wide open with fear.

How had they gone from "if" to "when" in the matter of hours? And not only that, but from "child" to "children" and she just stiffened, hoping that this part was just a bad dream, that he was going to wake her any moment, and...

And she thought of the tattoo on his hip and the way he'd looked at Lily's ring and she almost began to panic.

He pulled away from kissing her frowning as he looked up at her.

"Are you all right, love?" he whispered. "I mean, you suddenly got very tense."

"Sirius," she sighed, running her fingers through her own still-perfect hair, "I just don't really want to talk about kids."

His eyes widened and he sat up, facing her but not touching her.

"Do you not want kids?" he asked. "I mean, we've sort of had this talk, but we never really-"

"It's not that simple," she muttered, looking away.

He touched her hand gently.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You can tell me, Livia, whatever it is."

There it was, the perfect opportunity to tell him about the prophecy, about her nightmares and struggles and why she would need to leave him when she was pregnant. Because she would be pregnant.

Her hands were shaking, she realized, and she closed her eyes, wondering if she could really tell him. It was so important, so central to her relationship with him. Lily's voice was in her head, urging her to tell him.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him again, her lips parting with the urge to tell him, tell him everything. He was looking at her with so much expectance and concern. What if telling him would really be okay, be the right thing to do? Even though she couldn't have him for long, she could marry him, he could be there at the birth of the child, they could raise the child for a year together, and then when the time came... At least they would have had that time together; he would understand that she had no choice...

But even as that beautiful fantasy filled her head she realized that there was a much more real possibility that she would not be able to keep him safe, that the danger he would be in for knowing would be so much worse than anything either of them would suffer by her keeping him well out of it.

She shook her head and gave him a sad smile.

"I love you," she whispered. "I do, Sirius."

"Then tell-"

"No," she said, pressing a finger to his lips. "No, don't ask me to tell you things I can't."

His gray eyes were full of hurt but she pulled his face to hers and kissed him firmly, trying not to think about how much she was going to miss this, miss his holding her as he gave in and did again, miss the feel of his mouth exploring hers, miss the vibrations as he moaned into their kisses.

There was just so much to miss.

She didn't realize she was crying until he pulled out of the kiss and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"Livia, please," he whispered, eyes still sad. "This is obviously hurting you, whatever it is. Can't you just have me share your burden?"

"No," she whispered. "No, and you have no idea how much I wish I could, but it's a risk I can't take."

And she couldn't. Olivia could do many things, but she would never gamble with Sirius's life. She loved him too much.

"Please," she whispered. "Please don't ask me anymore. It just makes it hurt so much more."

"You know I don't want to see you hurt," he sighed, kissing her collarbone gently. "But it's so hard for me not to know what to do."

Olivia shook her head and said, "All you need to know is that I need you to hold me. That's all you can do, Sirius. That's all I need."

But she needed so much more. She needed to find some way for this prophecy to be about someone else so that she didn't have to let go of him. If she left him like she knew she was going to have to do she was going to hurt so badly, and Olivia wasn't sure she was going to ever sleep properly without his arms around her.

And so he wrapped his arms around her tightly, letting her head rest on his chest as she did when they slept. Olivia wrapped her legs up in his and she closed her eyes, wrapping her fingers around his shoulders.

Dumbledore had told her that she didn't have to live her life like the prophecy was some sort of roadmap, that it only was true because she let it be true.

But Olivia had had enough visions and prophecies in her life not to believe him. When Professor Phthia told her that she was seeing the future, and the power and responsibility that came with that, Olivia had never once doubted. She knew instinctively that Phthia was right and Dumbledore was wrong.

"I love you so much," she whispered, touching her lips to those of a sleeping Sirius before resting her head on his chest again, realizing that every beautiful night they had together was another night closer to the day she had to leave him. She would have to make sure he knew how much she loved him before he left. Because Olivia didn't think she could stand walking away without him knowing that she wanted nothing more than to stay.


	46. The Prophecy

**May, 1973**

Sirius could feel a lump in his throat. Another night of not sleeping properly. He'd lost count of them, but Evans had a count of exactly how long Olivia had been missing. Her father hadn't left Hogwarts, although he was doing regular correspondence back and forth with Minister Bagnold.

"She'll be okay, Sirius," Mr. Cromwell said unconvincingly. "She'll be upset if she sees you like this when she gets back.

That was probably true, but Sirius wasn't convinced that she was going to be all right, in spite of his efforts to convince himself. He didn't want to think about the alternative.

"You should be studying for exams, Sirius," Remus said softly, flipping absently through his own notes, not really reading them.

How could they really expect him to care about exams when Olivia was gone? He couldn't even focus long enough to eat a meal without someone reminding him that he was supposed to be eating. He just sat in wait for some sort of news, any sort of news. All of the waiting was killing him, but he couldn't find anything else to do.

"Does it seem like the castle is less bright when we know she's not here?" Sirius finally said with a huff of hollow laughter.

Mr. Cromwell nodded and said, "I feel that way every September when she leaves the Manor. Even when she would visit my parents, her not being in the house makes it seem empty and cold, even though it's not. Her mother was that way, too."

Sirius just nodded. Ever since she went missing they had heard dozens of ways that Olivia took after her mother, Aindora, who seemed like some kind of saint-like imp from the way her husband spoke of her. Sirius supposed that was a good descriptor for Olivia, too.

/-/

Olivia could feel that dull ache in her muscles, the same one she'd felt since she'd woken up in Voldemort's care. He wasn't exactly torturing her anymore, but even the bed she was allowed to sleep in as long as she behaved herself made her ache.

"Feeling better?" the Death Eater who refused to tell her his name asked, smiling at her kindly.

"No," she admitted, whimpering and turning over on the bed. "I want to go home."

"Ah, well, there's no doing that, princess," he said, sitting at the foot of her bed. "You can't stay in bed all day. The Dark Lord wants to see you. I'm supposed to fetch you, make sure you're presentable."

Olivia sat up, looking at the dress robes he gestured at. They were rich forest green and velvet. She would typically have been excited to wear such fancy clothes no matter the occasion, but she had quickly learned that when Voldemort wanted her looking pretty something awful was going to happen. Sometimes he'd put her in a cage next to him as he worked and studied and would look up at her when he wanted to look at something pretty.

Other times, he would get her all dressed up, give her some elaborate meal, and lecture her on the importance of pure blood and the many evils of Muggleborns, Muggles, and blood traitors. And then, on most of these occasions, he would have her repeat back the lesson to him, word for word, giving her treats for every section she got right.

It wasn't exactly brainwashing, more like training. He seemed to have very real hopes that she would have some sort of career as a Death Eater, which Bellatrix hated. As predicted by the nameless Death Eater, Bellatrix seemed to think she was being usurped.

"I'll change," Olivia muttered, dreading this. There was one thing she hadn't tried, not sure that it would work, but she wanted so badly to do something, to accomplish some way to get home, that she knew it was her last hope. "Where are you taking me?"

He considered her for a moment.

"Well, as it won't make a difference," he said with a snort, "Yaxley Manor. It's not like you know where that is anyway, do you princess?"

"No," she said honestly, frowning. "I was just curious."

He nodded.

"I'll give you twenty minutes to change and make yourself pretty," he said, looking at her sadly. "I know that's probably not as long as you'd like, but it's all you've got."

Olivia nodded, waiting until he left the room to climb out of bed, press her ears to the door, and close her eyes. She waited until his footsteps were gone before she whispered, "Remus, please, I'm afraid. Yaxley Manor. I'll be at Yaxley Manor, Remus. I love you."

She wasn't sure if it would work so far from Hogwarts, but she pulled on the green dress robes and looked at her dull reflection, hating the fact that she couldn't make herself uglier.

When her twenty minutes were up she took the arm of the unnamed Death Eater and closed her eyes, feeling the strange, sickening feeling of Side-Along Apparition as she was transported from her cell in some unknown place to Yaxley Manor, where Voldemort was waiting for her.

She was walked down a long corridor to where Voldemort was sitting at the head of a table.

"Ah, our guest of honor," he said in his high, cold voice. "Please sit, Miss Cromwell. Sit. I trust you have an appetite?"

For once in her life, saying she did was a lie.

/-/

Remus gripped the back of the chair in front of him, the one he was about to sit in. Mr. Cromwell frowned.

"Remus? Are you all right?"

"Get Professor Dumbledore," he croaked. "Now. Olivia's just said...she just... Yaxley Manor."

Without a word, Olivia's father rushed out of the room, leaving Sirius and Remus alone, staring at each other.

"Yaxley," Sirius growled, his hands balled into angry fists.

Remus shook his head.

"We already knew he was involved," Remus said softly. "But he didn't take her there, Sirius. He's still in school."

Sirius shook his head, pounded his fist into a nearby chair and knocked it over.

"I want her back," he said in a low voice. "I can't stand this, this waiting."

"They know where she is now," Remus said, trying to convince himself more than Sirius. "They'll get her back."

Sirius looked up at him, his gray eyes full of sadness.

"But in what condition, Moony? Remember how she was last time?"

Remus didn't want to remember. He wanted to think of her at her best, beautiful and whole and smiling her honest smile at him, leaning in for a kiss. But as he closed his eyes he felt tears leaking out of the corners.

/-/

Mrs. Yaxley trembled slightly.

"She is truly pretty, my Lord," the woman said, the words tripping over themselves on the way out of her mouth. "Yet..."

"She is exquisite," Voldemort said, touching her chin. "Just as her mother was."

Olivia fought a shiver. He knew her mother.

She'd known that her mother had been killed by pureblood supremacists, but she hadn't realized that Voldemort might have been involved. There were so many questions, but this seemed the wrong time to ask, and the wrong person.

"Yes," Mrs. Yaxley muttered.

"What were you going to say?" Voldemort prompted.

Mrs. Yaxley paled, but she knew there was nowhere to hide that she had said "yet." Olivia almost pitied the woman.

"Well, it's just that she's so young, my Lord."

"She's thirteen," he said coldly. "She's nearly a woman. She is capable of bearing a child."

"Yes, my Lord," Mrs. Yaxley said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "My father was a Healer. It is dangerous for a child so young to have children. The likelihood of the mother dying-"

"If she dies," Voldemort said dismissively, "then she will die. At least we will have the child."

Olivia suddenly felt sick to her stomach, and for the first time in her life, in spite of the food in front of her on the table being delicious and sumptuous, she had absolutely no appetite for it.

"Olivia?" the kind Death Eater said from across the table. "Are you all right? You look pale."

She looked up at him, then at Voldemort, and she realized that it would be better to be honest.

"I don't want to die," she said softly.

Voldemort's sort-of lips curled into a cruel smile.

"I think you will find, Miss Cromwell, that your fate is completely out of your hands on this point."

She felt woozy. What did that mean? Was he just going to kill her anyway once she had this child he wanted from her?

"I...I don't feel well," she muttered, grabbing the edge of the table as the room began to spin.

"Bella," Voldemort said lazily, "escort her to compose herself. No playing."

Bellatrix frowned slightly, but she did so, leading Olivia out of the dining room and toward the toilet.

"Hurry up," Bellatrix snarled, closing the door behind her.

Olivia looked around the room. There were no windows, just the one door, and no way to hide.

She flushed the toilet as she realized that she was about to start crying. She turned on the sink, not wanting Bellatrix to hear as she sniffled and sobbed.

What if it didn't work? What if she was stuck under Voldemort's thumb for the rest of what was looking like a very short life?

She missed her father. She missed her sister. She missed Sirius, and Remus, and James, and even Peter.

Olivia wished she would have just listened to Remus, appeased Sirius, not gone off by herself.

Just as she was wiping her eyes and hoping that they didn't realize she'd been crying, however, there was a loud banging sound outside of her door and she backed up.

What was happening? What if Voldemort was angry that she was taking so long and was coming to hurt her?

Olivia's hands shook as she backed away to the far corner of the bathroom, the sink still running as the door was blown in.

Standing in front of her was Professor Dumbledore and her father.

And she began to cry afresh as her father rushed over to her, wrapping her up in his arms.

"It's all right, Livia," her father whispered. "Everything's going to be fine. You're safe now.

/-/

Remus waited. Sirius had already seen her, had been sent to bed, but he was waiting to sleep with her in the hospital wing that night so Remus had hidden in a closet off the wing that they had discovered. Once the wing was silent and he was sure Madam Pomfrey was asleep, he would sneak into the infirmary and curl up with her.

She couldn't sleep alone, not after being a prisoner for so long.

He pressed his ear to the door when Madam Pomfrey said that she would leave Olivia alone with her father and Professor Dumbledore for a while.

"Olivia, there is something we must tell you," Professor Dumbledore said gently. "There is a lot for you to know so young, but it is now clear that you cannot be kept from these secrets much longer."

"It's a child," Olivia said, or rather rasped. She was very weak. "They want a child, and they want me to have it. But why?"

Remus's heart pounded against his chest. Voldemort wanted to...to _breed_ her? But she was still just a child!

"Livia," Peter Cromwell said, his voice stuffy with sadness, "there is a prophecy. It's been around for hundreds of years, long before you were ever born, and it's given people who know about it plenty of time to figure out which family line it referred to. It traced through the maternal line, to your grandmother, to your mother, now to you, and experts have declared that it will be your child who the prophecy refers to."

"What is the prophecy?" Olivia asked.

She sounded so tired, so empty. Remus pressed his ear harder against the door.

"Your child will be the most powerful witch to ever live," Professor Dumbledore explained. "Your child will change the course of history, save history, and cleanse your line of the pain it has experienced for so many generations. That is why Lord Voldemort wants your child to be in his control, Olivia. To harness that kind of power to his ideals would be...catastrophic. But there is more to the prophecy."

"Once you have this child," Peter Cromwell whispered through tears, "not long after you've had this child...you will die. Just as your mother died when you were young, and hers died when she was young, and so on back through the generations. If you have this child, when you have this child, I lose you."

Remus was clutching his hands in fists so tight that he could feel his fingernails digging into the skin. The infirmary was deathly quiet and he closed his eyes to keep from whimpering.

He didn't want a world without Olivia. He didn't want anything to hurt her.

But it seemed like he didn't have a choice.

The Death Eaters would not rest until this child was born, and in their control, and in the process she would be in so much constant fear and pain. And once the child was born, she would have little time left. How little he didn't even want to speculate.

"What do I do?" she asked softly. "What can I do?"

"You can be careful," Professor Dumbledore said. "Don't go off alone. Tell us if someone is bothering you, like Mr. Yaxley, so that we can be especially vigilant. And don't give in to fear. A little bit of fear makes a person careful, cautious, but too much makes them reckless and incapable of proper action. You cannot be too afraid, Olivia."

It took several minutes more of them talking with her about her captivity, of what and who she remembered, of the people who had been giving her trouble at school, before they finally left her alone for the night. Remus waited until Madam Pomfrey turned off the light before creeping out of the closet and tiptoeing over to Olivia, who was still wide awake. Her eyes gleamed in the near-darkness, shining with moonlight.

She was beautiful. Sad, and beautiful, and Remus just wanted to hold her and cry.

"Come on, Remus," she whispered into the darkness, not even looking at him. She slid over on the bed to make room. He crawled under the covers beside her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I don't know what to say," he whimpered, feeling a tear roll down his cheek.

"Then don't say anything," she said, running her fingers through his hair until he felt his eyes growing heavy. He pressed his head closer to her chest and listened to the slightly-elevated rhythm of her heartbeat, allowing the beat and the feel of her fingertips caressing his scalp to send him into a surprisingly peaceful slumber.

/-/

Olivia watched Remus sleep with his head on her chest. She knew that he had heard everything, that he knew about the prophecy. He knew she was afraid.

Olivia wasn't sure what bothered her more, the prophecy itself or the fear it brought. She remembered what it was like to be young and learn her mother was never coming home. Had her mother known that she would be leaving behind two little girls to grow up motherless? It certainly sounded like she had.

But they didn't have a choice. Olivia was going to have a child someday, and then she would die.

The more Olivia thought about it, too, the more inevitable it seemed. She knew very little about the nature of prophecy, and she did not know if it would be possible for her to go against it. There were certainly procedures, both Muggle and Magical, that would prevent her from ever having children. From what she knew, they were not reversible. But if she took such drastic measures, she would never have children, even though she got to live. It would be a big decision to make at thirteen.

Even if she could thwart the prophecy, what if doing so would be the wrong thing? This child she was supposed to have, this powerful child, could be the key to defeating Voldemort. What if without the child he won?

What if he managed to complete his plans and he won because of the child?

Olivia brushed some tears of her cheek before they fell on Remus's face and woke him up.

There was so much she still needed to know, so many answers she needed before she could really face what was in front of her. Should she tell the other Marauders?

Something this big, it had to be in the history books. She adjusted the pillow behind her with one hand, considering where she might start looking in the library for things that might show her more about what she was dealing with. She needed answers before she could address her other questions, like what to do about the Marauders.

Secrecy wasn't acceptable with the Marauders, she knew that. But she had to understand before she told them. She had to know….

But Olivia knew that she didn't want to tell them, anyway. If Sirius and James were already watching her every move, how much worse would they be if they knew the whole of it?

Remus would keep her secrets as long as she needed him to, as she had kept his secret from the others until he was ready to speak. It was pleasant, at least, to know that she did have Remus who shared her secret, even though he seemed nearly as afraid as she felt. He had smelled so strongly of fear as he had approached her in the darkness.

Olivia shivered, leaning back against the pillows, wishing she could recover the feeling of safety that had come before she had set foot in Hogwarts.


	47. Unwinding

**June, 1973**

Olivia watched the clock ticking down the leftover time on her final exam of the year. Lily had insisted that Olivia was in no shape to take exams, and Professor Dumbledore even offered an alternative arrangement, but Olivia felt perfectly capable and insisted on taking them with everyone else. After all, she'd been physically well-cared for, and a couple of Death Eaters had actually taught her a few things, thinking she would be staying with them.

Granted, none of those things would be useful on her exams, but she knew an awful lot of History of Magic from her lectures from Voldemort.

The final seconds ticked to nothing and the exams were collected, allowing the second year Gryffindors to enjoy some time out in the sun for the first time since the exam period began. Sirius and Remus stayed close to Olivia as the Marauders followed their classmates out to the lawn. She picked a spot on the edge of the lake, a few trees down from the prime spots the upperclassmen had already occupied. She sat down on the cool grass and felt the boys laying down around her. Smiling, she laid down, letting the grass tickle her neck, shooting up through her hair.

Remus leaned down, smiling, and kissed her quickly before laying down beside her, and she heard the soft sounds of the other boys laying on their backs and looking up at the brilliant blue sky. It was a color so rarely seen in the Scottish sky, and Olivia felt her fingers curl in the grass. She closed her eyes as a breeze danced across her face.

There was the sound of grass tearing out of the ground a couple of feet over from her, and she heard James say, "I want to top the year in Transfiguration. I want to win the Quidditch Cup next year. I want to kiss Evans."

She smiled and opened her eyes, seeing blades of grass being carried over her head in the wind.

Remus ripped a bit of grass from between them and said, "I want to learn to bottle happiness. I want Livia to be well again. I want this madness to be over."

Feeling her stomach turn as he let go of the grass, she closed her eyes again to keep from crying. Remus would think of her pain before his, of course.

Sirius ripped up a little bit of grass and said, "I want to stay at Hogwarts forever. I want a bar of chocolate the size of Peter. I want all of us to have an excellent summer."

Olivia felt her fingers curling into the grass, but she didn't pull as she opened her eyes to watch Sirius's blades fly away in the wind. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say yet, and before she could think of something, she heard Peter squeak, "I want to pass all my exams. I want to grow this summer. I want my mum to buy me an owl."

She laughed, watching the blades of grass dancing in the air, swirling above her for a brief moment before they were carried off toward the lake. Unable to put it off any longer, she pulled up on the grass her hands had grabbed, gripping the slippery green bit of lawn in her fingers as she said softly, "I want to finish the Animagus research. I want to perfect my flying this summer. I want...I want to be free."

Her fingers opened and let the blades catch the wind, floating away from her grasp and tickling her skin in escape. She let her hand fall at her side and Remus rolled over, kissing her shoulder and lacing his fingers in hers.

The five friends stared at the clouds in silence for most of the afternoon. They were all so relieved that the trials Olivia's capture were over that they'd been spending a lot of time sitting in silence together, just appreciating that they were all there, all well, all accounted for. Olivia had never before realized what a profound comfort the presence of other, friendly bodies could be. When she would wake up in Remus's arms and realize that she wasn't wherever she'd been held by the Death Eaters, she would weep silent tears of joy until the boys woke up.

Eventually, James said, "I wish our parents had agreed to another year at your place, Livia. Leave it to Sirius's mum to ruin everything."

"It wasn't entirely her fault," Remus said sheepishly.

Remus's father hadn't thought that it would be good to have Remus spending full moons at the manor given Olivia's health condition, and the fact that they were dating. The concern was that he would go looking for her while transformed, and that he could do real damage to her in her weakened state, maybe even kill her.

Olivia's father promised to work on getting Remus permission for future holidays, but it didn't seem the right moment to press the issue. She curled her head against Remus's chest and breathed in the combined smell of him and the grass. He smelled like chocolate and something she didn't know the word for, some emotion she sometimes smelled on him that she didn't understand. It smelled lovely, though, and she breathed in a little bit deeper.

"I just want to go home for a little while," she whispered, curling her fingers into his shirt to pull him a bit closer. "But I'll miss Hogwarts."

A murmur of agreement rose up in the air above the Marauders, and they savored the first day of freedom before term would inevitably end and separate them from each other, until September. Olivia hated the thought of being alone, but she knew it was nothing to Remus, who didn't even have a sister to keep him company. More than anything, she hated being without Remus, knowing as they both did what the pureblood supremacists really wanted from her.

/-/

Sirius drummed his fingers absently on the Gryffindor table while celebrations went on for the end of year feast. He'd gotten his exams back earlier in the day like everyone else, but he knew his mother wouldn't be pleased.

Oh, he'd passed everything. He'd actually done remarkably well in everything. But Olivia, James, even Evans had managed to best him in several subjects, and Snivellus even bested him in Potions. Not only was he not the top of the year, but he'd been beaten out by a Muggle-born. Olivia and Lily Evans had tied for top of the year, with James just behind them. Sirius had come in fourth.

That was worth at least forty lashes, if his mother was feeling generous.

"Are you all right, Sirius?" Olivia whispered in his ear. The sensation tickled his skin, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up and making him refocus on the feast around him. "You're looking a bit pale."

What Olivia had to go through, what she had gone through since the Slytherins first started taking interest in her, that was true suffering. She was in a constant state of physical pain, psychological paranoia, always having to look over her shoulder and force smiles. A few lashes from his mother were nothing compared to that sort of constant assault.

"M'fine," he lied. "Just didn't sleep great last night."

He truly didn't sleep well. He'd been too worried that he would actually not get a good enough score in one of his courses, and that he would suffer because of it. At least he'd done well, if not the best. That would count for more time left alone than otherwise.

"I've been thinking," James said, leaning across the table slightly and grinning.

"Don't hurt yourself," Remus said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"Ha, ha. No, I was thinking that we should all go to a Quidditch match or something over the summer. It could be a grand adventure! As long as we time it well, Remus, your dad can't say no. And Livia, your dad could come with for safety reasons if he's nervous. And Pete, we could find one where you get home by dark, or you could stay over after the match if it goes late. Right? We could do this. And then we could throw a party!"

"One scheme at a time, James," Olivia drawled, tapping the end of her fork with a nail. "The Quidditch sounds like a fine idea. Is anyone opposed?"

Sirius tensed.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to make it," he said slowly. "My...my mum wouldn't like... Well, you lot might have to go without me. Same goes for the party. I think I'm expected to spend a lot of time at home this summer."

Olivia gave Sirius a considering frown, but she knew what he was getting at. Letting Sirius go was one thing. Letting him go with Olivia was another. His mother would certainly let him do something if he was strongly invited by Olivia's father, and probably if by James's father, but she would be bitter about having her hand essentially forced by their social standing. She was a bitter woman to begin with, but anything that reminded her that she wasn't the most ultimately superior pureblood in all of England was a bitter pill even for her.

Safest if the didn't invite him, give her a summer to recover from his summer away. Especially because Sirius knew how much she didn't like the fact that he was friends with Olivia.

As they filed out of the feast, Olivia and James were bickering all the way back to the common room about the possibility of a party, and if it would be right to throw a Marauder bash without Sirius. Remus walked slowly with Sirius.

"What did you learn when you went to the hospital wing?" Sirius asked softly. "Something...something's different about her, and about you too. What did they want with her?"

Remus hesitated.

"They... She didn't say. She's afraid. Really afraid. And she's not allowed to talk about it. Whatever it is, Sirius, it's a very big deal." Sirius narrowed his eyes, but all Remus would say was that from what she'd said, they wanted her for something.

"What, like, for some sort of ritual or something?"

Remus shrugged.

Sirius decided he was going to spend summer holiday in the Black family library and his father's study looking up everything he could find on ritual magic, just in case. If there were patterns, perhaps he would be able to thwart whatever the plan was. It never occurred to him that he was only thirteen and that older and wiser wizards would have already thought of such things, should they have been necessary.

"Can you do me a favor?" Sirius asked, lowering his voice even more as they walked up the corridor toward the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Anything."

He hesitated, waiting for Olivia to step through to the common room before hissing, "When you see her this summer, keep an eye on her for me, and write to tell me how she is, how she really is. She won't tell me the truth if it's bad."

Remus nodded his agreement with sad eyes.

The boys followed their friends into the Gryffindor common room, and Sirius watched Olivia's back as she climbed the staircase to the boy's side chatting happily with Kurt about pie. If there was one thing Sirius knew he was going to miss that summer more than being with friends, losing rigged games of Exploding Snap and brutal matches of pick-up Quidditch, it was Olivia looking happy. He'd not seen enough of it that year, and to go a whole summer without seeing her smile seemed especially daunting that night.

But he decided to get his fill by watching her sleep from across the room, smiling with her head against Remus's chest.

/-/

The train pulled out of Hogsmeade station with Olivia gripping Remus's hand tightly. She would see him over the summer, but she wanted him to be with her. She didn't want to be alone. Her father had obtained enough dreamless sleep potion to last the whole of the holidays, but she wanted to be held instead. As she had told Sirius the year before, the potion was eerie, unpleasant. No, she didn't scream, but she woke up feeling afraid and sick to her stomach all the same.

And not only would she not have Remus, but she wouldn't even see Sirius. Having met his mother and brother, she didn't like the thought of his being all alone with those people. But what was there to do?

And then it struck her and she began to smile to herself.

"What are you thinking?" James asked nervously. The wilds were beginning to melt into countryside. "Don't tell me it's nothing, Livia. You've got that devious Marauder grin on your face."

She pursed her lips, still grinning, as she tore her eyes off the window and looked at the boys as they all watched her with a bit of anxiety.

"I will get to see Sirius over holiday. Just once, but...I will."

The boys exchanged confused looks, and then James seemed to realize what she meant.

"The events," he said softly. "Her father did say he might take the girls to the midsummer event this year. If she begs to go so she can see you, I don't think he'd say no."

Sirius looked a bit stunned for a moment, and then he nodded and quickly turned to look at the compartment door like it was fascinating, rubbing his eyes into his sleeves and muttering about allergies and dust.

Olivia smiled to herself, thinking of how best to express the issue to her father, where she would get something to wear, and whether Anne-Claire would be going as well. Olivia supposed she would have to, unless they left her with their grandparents.

"Peter," James said as the farmland started to morph into suburbs, "you're going to want to help me with the trunks, right?"

Peter squeaked in agreement, although Olivia knew he didn't want to do any such thing. But that was what he got for sitting with James by the door. She leaned her head on Remus's shoulder and listened to the boys talking without paying attention to their words. Remus began patting her hair in a smooth, soothing rhythm that eased her into a sort of trance-like sleep, and when Sirius and Remus were shaking her awake, Olivia could see London out of the window.

"We've slowed," Remus muttered in her ear. "We'll be there soon. Didn't want you to look drowsy when your father picks you up."

Olivia murmured words of thanks and she kissed his cheek, stretching and letting Sirius pull her to her feet.

Feeling the warmth of Remus being pulled from her was terrible, not necessarily because it was Remus, but because the heat was no longer dulling the ache she always felt. She winced slightly and she could see Sirius's concern flashing in his eyes, but he said nothing.

She'd trained them all so well.

The train grew quite slow, and she could see the platform out of the window as it ground to a halt. Parents were waiting on the other side, she knew, and she gripped Remus's hand eagerly, squeezing away the pain in her hand.

The Marauders put their things on the waiting trolleys on the platform, Olivia with a bit of help from James. She didn't like them treating her like she was weak, but she appreciated that they'd had as much of a scare as she had, and there was really no reason to scare them any more by refusing them this small comfort.

"I'm going to miss you all," she sighed as their group came closer to the front of the cue back into the main part of King's Cross. "It's really not fair that we won't be able to see each other most of the summer."

Before anyone could think of anything to say to that, they were ushered in groups of three across the threshold into the main part of King's Cross. Peter found his mother first, and Sirius hugged Olivia and shook the hands of the others before slipping off to find his parents, who were apparently at the back.

"James!" Mrs. Potter cooed, coming forward to hug her son. "Oh, my, you've all grown so much! It's strange to think that soon enough you'll not be children anymore."

Olivia's father walked over with Anne-Claire on his arm just as Mrs. Potter was enveloping Olivia and Remus in a hug.

"Careful you don't suffocate them," he teased, clapping a hand on James's shoulder while Mrs. Potter finally let go of his daughter. "Good to see you again James, Remus. I trust you're both well?"

"Yes, Mr. Cromwell," they chorused.

Olivia was surprised that Anne-Claire was standing behind their father, almost shyly, and when James left with his parents, she seemed to gather a bit more courage and popped out again.

"We have to be going now," Mr. Cromwell said. "Drizza's got a rather special dinner waiting. We'll see you for Quidditch, Remus?"

Remus nodded. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Olivia's cheek, and she could hear her sister gagging childishly.

"Are you sure you don't want us to wait with you, Remus?" she asked, nervously looking around for his parents.

"No, it's fine," he said, squeezing her hand gently. "I'm sure they're here somewhere. I'll see you soon, Livia. I promise."

Olivia quickly pecked his lips before letting her hand slip out of Remus's hand and into her father's. As little girls do, she looked over her shoulder at him as she walked away, feeling anxious to see him standing by himself. But she would see him soon, she reminded herself. Soon, but not soon enough.


End file.
